Encyclopedia > Ungulate

  Article Content

Ungulate

Ungulates (meaning roughly "hoofed[?]" or "hoofed animal") make up several orders of mammals, of which six survive:

Most large land mammals are ungulates.

Extinct ungulate groups include Ancylopoda, Amblypoda and Condylarths.

In addition to hooves, ungulates developed reduced canine teeth[?], bunodont molars (molars with low, rounded cusps), and an astragalus[?] (one of the ankle bones at the end of the lower leg) with a short, robust head.

Ungulates diversified rapidly in the Eocene, but are thought to date back perhaps as far as the Late Cretaceous. Most ungulates are herbivores, but a few are omnivores or predators (e.g. some whales).



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

... to retain a lawyer and to be informed of that right, and the right to an interpreter in a court proceeding are examples mobility rights: the right to enter and leave ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 39.6 ms