Ungulate
Ungulates (meaning roughly "hoofed animal") are several groups of mammals. Most of them use the tips of their toes, usually as hooves, to support their body weight while moving.
| Ungulata Temporal range: Possible Upper Cretaceous–Present
| |
|---|---|
| File:Donkey in Clovelly, North Devon, England.jpg | |
| Donkey, Equus africanus | |
| File:Spanish ibex.jpg | |
| Spanish ibex (Capra pyrenaica) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Unrecognized taxon (fix): | Pan-Euungulata |
| Mirorder: | Euungulata Linnaeus, 1766 |
| Orders and Clades | |
As a descriptive term, "ungulate" normally excludes cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises), because they do not have most of the typical morphological characteristics of ungulates. However, recent discoveries show that the Cetacea were descended from early artiodactyls.[3]
Ungulates are typically herbivorous and many use specialised gut flora to digest cellulose. Some modern species, such as pigs, are omnivorous. Some prehistoric species, such as the Mesonychia, were carnivorous.
Ungulates 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 are also even-toed ungulates although they do not have hooves.
Ungulate Media
- Zebras Ngorongoro Crater.jpg
Grant's Zebras in the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania.
- Diceros bicornis.jpg
Male Diceros bicornis (Black rhinoceros or Hook-lipped rhinoceros) at the Saint Louis Zoological Park in Missouri
- Elaphurus davidianus 001.jpg
Elaphurus davidianus in Kadzidłowo
- Hippopotamus - 04.jpg
Hippopotamus amphibius
- Bluewhale877.jpg
Adult blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) from the eastern Pacific Ocean.
- Comdolph.jpg
A common dolphin. Photo by NOAA. Source: [1]*en:Category:Cetacea images*Source: [2] Dolpins are not endangered.Their brain is bigger than the monkey.
Plate XV. *1. Rhinoceros *2. African Elephant
Cladogram of Cetacea within Artiodactyla (Camelus bactrianus)
References
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers at line 630: attempt to index field 'known_free_doi_registrants_t' (a nil value).
- ↑ Burger, Benjamin J. 2015. The systematic position of the sabre-toothed and horned giants of the eocene: the Uintatheres (order Dinocerata). Utah State University, Uintah Basin Campus, Vernal, UT, USA 84078, SVP 2015.
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers at line 630: attempt to index field 'known_free_doi_registrants_t' (a nil value).