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Ungulate
Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Ungulata which primarily consists of large mammals with hooves. These include odd-toed ungulates such as horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs; and even-toed ungulates such as cattle, pigs, giraffes, camels, sheep, deer, and hippopotamuses. Cetaceans such as whales, dolphins, and porpoises are also classified as even-toed ungulates, although they do not have hooves. Most terrestrial ungulates use the hoofed tips of their toes to support their body weight while standing or moving. The term means, roughly, "being hoofed" or "hoofed animal". As a descriptive term, "ungulate" normally excludes cetaceans as they do not possess most of the typical morphological characteristics of other ungulates, but recent discoveries indicate that they were also descended from early artiodactyls. Ungulates are typically herbivorous and many employ specialized gut bacteria to allow them to digest cellulose. Some modern species, such as pigs, are omnivor ...
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Odd-toed Ungulate
Odd-toed ungulates, mammals which constitute the taxonomic order Perissodactyla (, ), are animals—ungulates—who have reduced the weight-bearing toes to three (rhinoceroses and tapirs, with tapirs still using four toes on the front legs) or one (equines, third toe) of the five original toes. The non-weight-bearing toes are either present, absent, vestigial, or positioned posteriorly. By contrast, the even-toed ungulates bear most of their weight equally on four or two (an even number) of the five toes: their third and fourth toes. Another difference between the two is that odd-toed ungulates digest plant cellulose in their intestines rather than in one or more stomach chambers as even-toed ungulates, with the exception of Suina, do. The order includes about 17 species divided into three families: Equidae (horses, asses, and zebras), Rhinocerotidae (rhinoceroses), and Tapiridae (tapirs). Despite their very different appearances, they were recognized as related families ...
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Even-toed Ungulate
The even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla , ) are ungulates—hoofed animals—which bear weight equally on two (an even number) of their five toes: the third and fourth. The other three toes are either present, absent, vestigial, or pointing posteriorly. By contrast, odd-toed ungulates bear weight on an odd number of the five toes. Another difference between the two is that many other even-toed ungulates (with the exception of Suina) digest plant cellulose in one or more stomach chambers rather than in their intestine as the odd-toed ungulates do. Cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) evolved from even-toed ungulates, and are therefore often classified under the same taxonomic branch because a species cannot outgrow its evolutionary ancestry; some modern taxonomists combine the two under the name Cetartiodactyla , while others opt to include cetaceans in the already-existing Artiodactyla. The roughly 270 land-based even-toed ungulate species include pigs, peccaries, hippo ...
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Notoungulata
Notoungulata is an extinct order of mammalian ungulates that inhabited South America from the early Paleocene to the Holocene, living from approximately 61 million to 11,000 years ago. Notoungulates were morphologically diverse, with forms resembling animals as disparate as rabbits and rhinoceroses. Notoungulata are the largest group of South American native ungulates, with over 150 genera in 14 families having been described, divided into two major subgroupings, Typotheria and Toxodontia. Notoungulates first diversified during the Eocene. Their diversity declined during the Late Neogene, with only the large toxodontids persisting until the end of the Pleistocene. Collagen analysis suggests that notoungulates are closely related to litopterns, another group of South American ungulates, and their closest living relatives being perissodactyls (odd-toed ungulates), including rhinoceroses, tapirs and equines. but their relationships to other South American ungulates are uncertain ...
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Litopterna
Litopterna (from grc, λῑτή πτέρνα "smooth heel") is an extinct order of fossil hoofed mammals from the Cenozoic era. The order is one of the five great orders of South American ungulates that were endemic to the continent, until the Great American Biotic Interchange brought new ungulate species. Like other endemic South American mammals, their relationship to other mammal groups had long been unclear, but recent genetic and proteomic evidence indicates that their closest living relatives are Perissodactyls (odd-toed ungulates) including horses, rhinoceros, and tapirs, and that litopterns are closely related to notoungulates, another widespread group of South American ungulates. There were two major groups of litopterns: Proterotheriidae and Macraucheniidae. Proterotheriids were medium to large animals that evolved adaptations for fast running, and occupied a variety of niches that elsewhere were filled by animals such as goats and antelopes, mouse deer, and h ...
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Mesonychia
Mesonychia ("middle claws") is an extinct taxon of small- to large-sized carnivorous ungulates related to artiodactyls. Mesonychids first appeared in the early Paleocene, went into a sharp decline at the end of the Eocene, and died out entirely when the last genus, ''Mongolestes'', became extinct in the early Oligocene. In Asia, the record of their history suggests they grew gradually larger and more predatory over time, then shifted to scavenging and bone-crushing lifestyles before the group became extinct. Mesonychids probably originated in China, where the most primitive mesonychid, '' Yangtanglestes'', is known from the early Paleocene. They were also most diverse in Asia, where they occur in all major Paleocene faunas. Since other predators, such as creodonts and Carnivora, were either rare or absent in these animal communities, mesonychids most likely dominated the large predator niche in the Paleocene of eastern Asia. One genus, '' Dissacus'', had successfully spread to ...
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Giraffe
The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa''. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, '' Giraffa camelopardalis'', with nine subspecies. Most recently, researchers proposed dividing them into up to eight extant species due to new research into their mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, as well as morphological measurements. Seven other extinct species of ''Giraffa'' are known from the fossil record. The giraffe's chief distinguishing characteristics are its extremely long neck and legs, its horn-like ossicones, and its spotted coat patterns. It is classified under the family Giraffidae, along with its closest extant relative, the okapi. Its scattered range extends from Chad in the north to South Africa in the south, and from Niger in the west to Somalia in the east. Giraffes usually inhabit savannahs and woodlands. Their food source is leaves, fru ...
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Mesaxonia
Mesaxonia (near-synonymous with Panperissodactyla) is a clade of ungulates whose weight is distributed on the third toe on all legs through the plane symmetry of their feet. For a while it was often seen to only contain the order Perissodactyla (which includes the equines, rhinos and tapirs). Recent work in morphological cladistics and ancient DNA suggests that several extinct lineages, like the Desmostylia and some of the South American ungulates of Meridiungulata (both groups traditionally seen as Afrotherian relatives) are related to the perissodactyls. Classification *Mesaxonia **† DinocerataBURGER, Benjamin J., THE SYSTEMATIC POSITION OF THE SABER-TOOTHED AND HORNED GIANTS OF THE EOCENE: THE UINTATHERES (ORDER DINOCERATA), Utah State University Uintah Basin Campus, Vernal, UT, United States of America, 84078, SVP 2015 **†Phenacodontidae **Panperissodactyla ***†Anthracobunia ****† Anthracobunidae ****† Cambaytheriidae ****†Desmostylia? ***†Litopterna ***†No ...
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Panperissodactyla
Mesaxonia (near-synonymous with Panperissodactyla) is a clade of ungulates whose weight is distributed on the third toe on all legs through the plane symmetry of their feet. For a while it was often seen to only contain the order Perissodactyla (which includes the equines, rhinos and tapirs). Recent work in morphological cladistics and ancient DNA suggests that several extinct lineages, like the Desmostylia and some of the South American ungulates of Meridiungulata (both groups traditionally seen as Afrotherian relatives) are related to the perissodactyls. Classification *Mesaxonia **† DinocerataBURGER, Benjamin J., THE SYSTEMATIC POSITION OF THE SABER-TOOTHED AND HORNED GIANTS OF THE EOCENE: THE UINTATHERES (ORDER DINOCERATA), Utah State University Uintah Basin Campus, Vernal, UT, United States of America, 84078, SVP 2015 **†Phenacodontidae **Panperissodactyla ***†Anthracobunia ****† Anthracobunidae ****† Cambaytheriidae ****†Desmostylia? ***†Litopterna ***†No ...
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Anthracobunia
Mesaxonia (near-synonymous with Panperissodactyla) is a clade of ungulates whose weight is distributed on the third toe on all legs through the plane symmetry of their feet. For a while it was often seen to only contain the order Perissodactyla (which includes the equines, rhinos and tapirs). Recent work in morphological cladistics and ancient DNA suggests that several extinct lineages, like the Desmostylia and some of the South American ungulates of Meridiungulata (both groups traditionally seen as Afrotherian relatives) are related to the perissodactyls. Classification *Mesaxonia **† DinocerataBURGER, Benjamin J., THE SYSTEMATIC POSITION OF THE SABER-TOOTHED AND HORNED GIANTS OF THE EOCENE: THE UINTATHERES (ORDER DINOCERATA), Utah State University Uintah Basin Campus, Vernal, UT, United States of America, 84078, SVP 2015 **†Phenacodontidae **Panperissodactyla ***†Anthracobunia ****† Anthracobunidae ****† Cambaytheriidae ****†Desmostylia? ***†Litopterna ***†No ...
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Hoof
The hoof (plural: hooves) is the tip of a toe of an ungulate mammal, which is covered and strengthened with a thick and horny keratin covering. Artiodactyls are even-toed ungulates, species whose feet have an even number of digits, yet the ruminants with two digits, are the most numerous, e.g. giraffe, deer, bison, cattle, goat, and sheep. The feet of perissodactyl mammals have an odd number of toes, e.g. the horse, the rhinoceros, and the tapir. Hooves are limb structures restricted to placental mammals, which have long pregnancies; however, the marsupial ''Chaeropus'' had hooves. Description The hoof surrounds the distal end of the second phalanx, the distal phalanx, and the navicular bone. The hoof consists of the hoof wall, the bars of the hoof, the sole and frog and soft tissue shock absorption structures. The weight of the animal is normally borne by both the sole and the edge of the hoof wall. Hooves perform many functions, including supporting the weight of the a ...
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Phenacodontidae
Phenacodontidae is an extinct family of large herbivorous mammals traditionally placed in the “wastebasket taxon” Condylarthra, which may instead represent early-stage perissodactyls. They lived in the Paleocene and Eocene epochs (about 60–50 million years ago) and their fossil remains have been found in North America and Europe. Description These animals had a variety of body sizes, and could be as small as domestic cats ('' Tetraclaenodon'' and ''Ectocion'') and as large as sheep ('' Phenacodus''). The skull of phenacodontids is long and narrow, and equipped with a small braincase. The skeleton of phenacodontids show several primitive characteristics (the long and heavy tail for example) but also a number of advanced, Perissodactyla-like adaptations: Their long legs, for example, had five fingers, but the first finger showed a clear reduction, and in some forms (like ''Phenacodus'') the fifth finger was reduced as well. Some species had tapir-like adaptations sug ...
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Dichobunidae
Dichobunidae is an extinct family of basal artiodactyl mammals from the early Eocene to late Oligocene of North America, Europe, and Asia. The Dichobunidae include some of the earliest known artiodactyls, such as '' Diacodexis''. Description They were small animals, averaging about the size of a modern rabbit, had many primitive features. In life, they would have resembled a long-tailed muntjac or chevrotain. Dichobunids had four or five toes on each foot, with each toe ending in a small hoof. They had complete sets of teeth, unlike most later artiodactyls, with their more specialist dentitions. The shape of the teeth suggests they were browsers, feeding on small leaves, perhaps in the forest undergrowth. The shape of their bodies and limbs suggests they would have been fast-running animals, unlike most of their contemporaries. Taxonomy Classification of dichobunids following McKenna and Bell: *† Family Dichobunidae **'' Paraphenacodus'' **'' Dulcidon'' **'' Chorlakkia'' ...
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