The rootdigging thornback split from its ancestor. Although they share many things in common the rootdigging thornback is more compact and has specialized in eating the energy rich bulbs of the Fermi Sunstalk, though they are opportunists and will gladly eat anything they can. The nose spike is much larger than in their ancestor and is used to dig up the bulbs. The tip of the spike is covered in a horny cuticle which protects it as they dig through the rocky and often frozen soil. As the neck evolved so did the signalling patch, it has split in two and moved to the sides of the body.
Living Relatives (click to show/hide)
These are randomly selected, and organized from lowest to highest shared taxon. (This may correspond to similarity more than actual relation)
