Lord Pendragon said:I believe you are clearly misinterpreting this. You can choose a more powerful companion from alternate lists. This does not reduce your effective druid level in any way, you merely compare your effective druid level to the level required by the category on the list. Your effective druid level never changes. The feat is useful for multiclassed druids, allowing their companions to progress better. It's not useful for a full druid at all. His effective druid level is already equal to his HD, and choosing an animal companion from a stronger list doesn't reduce it.
animal companion stuff
You can interpret it differently of course, but it looks pretty clear to me
Maybe they didnt 'mean' it that way, but ::shrugs::