Under the feet of giants

Tramplerats and other large megafauna favor the high productivity of the trample steppe. However, it's not just the large herbivores that benefit from this unique ecosystem: small rodents and geotters also thrive in this rich biome. One of the most common small herbivores is the painted otterwatcher (Falsimarmota tundricola), among the largest in its genus. Resembling their ancestors, they live in family groups of up to 20 individuals and possess robust claws for digging dens in the superficial ground layer. Their diet is strictly graminivorous, comprising up to 80% grasses, sedges, and rushes. They exhibit advanced dentition with three pairs of molars in each jaw, trending towards selenodontia and hypsodontia.

When threatened, otterwatchers retreat to their dens, always located near their feeding areas. Because of this strong homing behaviour, otterwatchers can reach exceptional densities, up to 10 individuals per hectare. They often fall prey to the greater carniere (Lutrogulo robustus), a carnivorous geotter species exceeding 30 kg in weight (66 lbs). These mammals have proportionally longer hind limbs (compared to their ancestors), which are used for digging mammal nests and subduing prey, including otterwatchers, ground birds, and other geotters. While they rarely hunt prey larger than their size, greater carnieri are hot-tempered and lack predators, except for the smoky beaster, which can sometimes prey on carnieri when large herbivores are not available. If threathened, the carniere can stand its ground due to its devastating bite force, the proportionally greatest among all geotters.

Trample steppe geotters encompass not only carnivorous taxa but also a group of almost exclusively herbivorous species, like the ragos. While most species are scansorial or fully arboreal, restricted to the few alpine and riparian mosaic habitats of the trample steppe, one species stands out for thriving in treeless environments: the ground rago (Erbilutra magnicephala). Despite their unusual habitat, these ragos exhibit discrete scansoriality, with strong prehensile hands; however, their larger size makes them unsuitable for climbing the small, sparse shrubs of the biome, usually under 2 meters. At first glance, these adaptations seems to have purpose, but actually ground ragos climb something, just not trees... but tramplerats! The giant and hairy rodents tolerate the presence of these geotters due to a symbiotic relationship, where tramplerats provide protection and a resting spot to ground ragos from predators, while the ground ragos groom their hairs for insects and parasites to supplement their low-protein diet. As a result, ground ragos have abandoned a lethargy habit, moving together with their tramplerat herds and feeding on the few palatable plants available even in winter. They also occasionally consume tramplerats' feces, rich in partially digested food that's easier to assimilate.
The bond between these two animals is so strong that the genetic divergence between various tramplerat subpopulations mirrors that of ground ragos. Ground ragos are in fact very loyal to their natal tramplerat herd, rarely mixing with ground ragos from other herds.