Spelunkhoe

The spelunkhoe has become isolated in the Barlowe Tundra and has become more specialized for a subterranean life. It has replaced its ancestor, the cavohoe, in the Barlowe Tundra. Its underside is calloused with thick and rough skin giving it protection as it slides on its chest through tunnels. The spelunkhoe’s butt-nostrils have much more finely tuned the seal and have adapted to oxygen-deprived air, lessening the need for airshafts but not eliminating them. The front claws have enlarged to “breast stroke” through the tunnels as the hind limbs paddle away soot and dirt behind it and into the walls. The photosynthetic panels have shrunken even more and spelunkhoes never need to surface and photosynthesize. As before, every full moon, swaths of spelunkhoes surface to mate. When males choose their female, they protect the female from smaller males through a threat display involving loud bellows and outstretched front limbs. However, a larger male might scare away the smaller male and claim his mate. Fights rarely break out, as a smaller male will quickly back down to larger ones. Once mated the male will follow the female back to her colony. This exchange of males spreads genetics.