It is a massive animal some 5 meters long with a squat, rounded body and massive legs, resembling those of the gigantelopes to which it is distantly related to. Its most distinctive feature is the tall ridge running down its back and neck. The ridge is supported by the neural spines of the vertebrae and may be of use in regulating the animal's temperature. The valuphant feeds only on herbs and roots, which it gouges up with its horns. The grasses themselves are eaten by more lightly built fleet-footed even-toed ungulates such as the snorke.