Sprinters, known taxonomically as dromaeopods, are an early offshoot of the latapod clade, more closely related to megapods than anything else. They form the clade pandromaeopoda with their distant cousins, the armoured rammers and the pleccles. Sprinters were and are
cursorial browsers, feeding on the dwarf spermatophytes which blanket the steppes of the southern micro-continent. Most species in this group have their heads angled
down to more easily reach vegetation, as their thoracic and cephalic
plates are fused, disabling independant head movement. The particular
prehistoric specimen pictured here was one of the largest dromaeopods of its time, reaching 2 meters in height.
Acricauds are a group of thelocaud which
have refined their tails into a deadly defensive weapon. Much like
porcupines on Earth, they have hardened the filaments on their tails
into brittle spines to discourage being bitten into. In combination with
their thick tortoise-like shells, they are practically invulnerable to
harm as adults. Most acricauds are
generalists, feeding on both burrowing insects and plant roots. The two
specimens pictured were no exception.
Though both clades survive to this day, their degrees of success are highly varied. Sprinters occupy many browsing niches across the entirety of Dome 4, while acricauds have become rare, only surviving on the southern microcontinent.
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