Burrowl’s heavy wings prevent it from flying, but it uses them as shovels to dig underground. It also uses its wings to protect small Pokémon from sandstorms.
Burrowl's original design resembled an Owl Bear/Moonkin, a creature from Dungeons and Dragons.
Burrowl and Magowl were originally intended to be part of the same evolution family, with a shared pre-evolution. The pre-evolution was never successfully created.
Design origin
Burrowl is based on a Burrowing owl, in the sense that it lives underground in dry, arid places. Both Burrowl and Magowl were designed to have flightless wings, so Burrowl became a burly beast with digging talons.
Both Burrowl and Magowl were originally Great horned owls that had adapted to different biomes in an extreme sense.
Name origin
Burrowl's name is a combination of burrow and owl.