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Introduction
Some of the most well-established terrestrial mammals of the animal kingdom are the ungulates or hoofed mammals. Due to an incomplete fossil record with no readily identifiable intermediates, the precise relationship between modern and early ungulates is currently unknown. Ungulates are primarily divided into one of two orders, Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates, or Perissodactyla, the odd-toed ungulates. The primary distinction between these orders involves the morphology of the animals’ feet as they deviate from the typical five-digit vertebrate morphology. Artiodactyla is currently considered the fifth largest order of mammals in the world, comprised of 10 families, 8 genera, and 210 species (Etnyre et al. 2011).
Morphology of Artiodactyl Extremities
As ungulates, artiodactyls typically (with few exceptions) possess digits in which the distalmost phalanx is sheathed in a pointed hoof. They consistently exhibit...
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Hensarling, S., Calder, C. (2019). Artiodactyla Morphology. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_833-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_833-1
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