Artiodactyls list. General characteristics of artiodactyls, their economic importance. General description of equids

Artiodactyls are a group of placental mammals of the chordate type. The orders Artiodactyls and Perissodactyls are true ungulates, and together with proboscis, sirenians and hyraxes they are included in the superorder Ungulates. This order is divided into suborders of ruminant and non-ruminant animals depending on the structural features digestive system, as well as a suborder of calloseds, which differs from the first two by the presence of an elastic calloused pad on the feet instead of ordinary hooves. Ruminant artiodactyls include 6 families: deer, pronghorn, bovid, deer, musk deer, giraffe. The non-ruminant (porcine) suborder unites three families: pigs, peccaries, and hippos. Callopods are represented by one family - camelids. Feature all artiodactyls have a pair of fingers on their limbs (two or four), with the third and fourth fingers bearing the main load. Therefore, they are better developed than others, and the first finger is reduced. On the terminal phalanges of the fingers of ruminant and non-ruminant animals there are strong horny sheaths - hooves.

Even-toed ungulates descended from ancient ungulates - condylarthra, known from the lower Eocene period. Currently, this order includes approximately 200 species, distributed on all continents, excluding Antarctica and islands remote from the continents. Artiodactyls were brought to Australia and artificially acclimatized. These animals live in steppe, forest-steppe, desert areas, found in forests and mountainous areas. The greatest species diversity is observed on open spaces, for example, in savannas.

Artiodactyls have medium or large body sizes. The head is elongated; many representatives of this order have horns. The molars of artiodactyls have a lunate or tuberculate shape, which facilitates better chewing of coarse plant food, since all artiodactyls are herbivores. Most of them eat herbaceous plants, only pigs are omnivores. Non-ruminant animals have a simple stomach, while ruminants have a multi-chambered stomach, adapted for grinding hard plant food, which, with prolonged chewing, turns into cud.

A feature of the skeleton of these animals is the absence of collarbones. The limbs of artiodactyls bend and extend only in the sagittal plane. The axis of the limb passes between the developed third and fourth fingers, the two lateral ones are poorly developed, and there is no first finger. Unlike equids, there is no third trochanter on the femur. These animals have 19 (domesticated animals have fewer) dorsal lumbar vertebrae.

The importance of artiodactyls in the human economy is very great, since most farm animals belong to this group. This is a big one cattle, goats, pigs, sheep, camels. Currently, the number of many species of artiodactyls has decreased significantly; 21 species are listed in the International Red Book.

Ungulates - large group mammals that have horny hooves instead of claws at the ends of their toes.

The vast majority of ungulates are herbivores. They flee to escape predators. The young of experienced mammals are born sighted, with hair, and within a few hours they can follow their mother.

Elephants- the largest of modern land animals, weighing up to 4-5 tons. They have a trunk. Main severity huge body falls on the hard and at the same time elastic pad of the legs, located under the hand and foot. However, the front part of the ends of the fingers ends in a hoof. Elephants are classified as order of proboscis.

Order Artiodactyls

On the legs of artiodactyls even number fingers - a pair or two pairs. Each toe, like a shoe, is covered with a thick and durable hoof. This order includes pigs, hippopotamuses, deer, giraffes, as well as antelopes, goats, rams and bulls. Even-toed ungulates that walk on soft ground, such as reindeer or elk, have wide, flat hooves that increase the surface of support. On the contrary, goats and chamois, whose life is spent in the mountains, have narrow hooves with a hard edge - with them the animals rest on the slightest ledges of rocks and easily jump over rocky places.

Many artiodactyls are characterized by horns on their heads. Thus, male deer and elk have branched antlers that are replaced annually and grow back in the spring. Most agricultural ungulates - cows, sheep, goats - have horns that grow throughout their lives and do not change. Many wild artiodactyls have a complex multi-chambered stomach. In such a stomach, difficult-to-digest foods are better processed. plant food.

Ruminant artiodactyls

Ruminant artiodactyls are high-legged mammals in which swallowed plant food from the stomach is regurgitated into the mouth and chewed a second time. Why does food make such a complex journey? The fact is that it (grass, leaves of bushes and trees) consists mainly of indigestible fiber. In ruminants, the digestion of such food occurs due to the activity special bacteria and ciliates, which transform fiber into a digestible state. This occurs in the stomach, which has a complex structure. Swallowed food undergoes such processing in it. It is then regurgitated into the oral cavity, where it is chewed by the molars, and is swallowed again. Food is digested in the stomach and then in the intestines under the influence of the juices of the liver and pancreas.

Figure: Ruminant artiodactyl mammals - elk, dromedary camel, Siberian goat, giraffe, bison, wild boar, argali, sika deer

Ruminant artiodactyl mammals include camels, deer, rams, goats, antelopes, bison and giraffes.

Elk- most close-up view deer family. It has a large head with a fleshy upper lip. Males have rake- or spade-shaped horns and a hairy skin growth hanging from their throat. The color of moose is brown in winter, it becomes darker in summer, and the legs are white. The body length can reach 3 m, and the height at the withers can be up to 2.3 m, with a weight of up to 570 kg. Long legs adapted to move in deep snow and in wetlands.

Moose feed on grasses in summer, and in winter - shoots and bark of willows, aspen, rowan, and pine. They live alone or in groups of 5-8 heads.

Elk lives in the forest zone of Eurasia and North America. It is a valuable commercial mammal.

Non-ruminant artiodactyls

Non-ruminant artiodactyls are pig-like mammals in which swallowed plant food from the stomach is not regurgitated into the mouth and is not chewed again. Their skin is thick, their legs are short, and their fangs are large and constantly growing. There are 19 known living species - hippopotamuses, pigs, etc.

Figure: Non-ruminant artiodactyl mammals - common hippopotamus, wild boar

Boar- ancestor of the domestic pig, common in Europe and Asia. This is an omnivore: it digs up roots, tubers, willingly eats nuts, acorns, fallen berries, fruits, but also various invertebrates and slow-moving vertebrates. Such food is juicy, concentrated, contains little fiber, so its stomach is simple and consists of one chamber. Wild boars live in flocks consisting of females and young ones, while older males stay separately. The piglets, while small, are striped - this makes it easier for adults to notice them in the grass. They grunt continuously, and in case of danger they emit a loud squeal, and adults immediately rush to defense. This habit has also been preserved in domestic pigs. The wild boar is a game animal.

Order Odd-toed ungulates

These are mammals with 1 or 3 toes on their limbs (sometimes the number of toes on the front legs is 4). They always have the most developed 3rd (middle) finger, which bears the main weight of the body. There is no complex stomach, but there is a very large cecum, where bacterial digestion of food occurs with the participation of bacteria. Even-toed ungulates are mainly inhabitants of open areas. These include horses, rhinoceroses and tapirs. A total of 16 species are known.

Figure: Mammals of the order equids - kulan, Przewalski's horse, wild ass, mountain zebra, Indian rhinoceros

Wild horse or Przewalski's horse discovered in the 19th century by the famous Russian traveler Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky, apparently disappeared by 1970. The last reliable meetings with her occurred in 1967 and 1968. in the deserts of Mongolia and China. wild horse is a horse with a body length of up to 230 cm, a height at the withers of up to 130 cm and a weight of up to 300 kg. Its body color is fawn or reddish-yellow, with a narrow line running along the ridge. dark stripe, the belly and end of the muzzle are lighter.

• - this is how in all languages ​​they call ordinary, and at the same time not quite, mammals that we have known since childhood - goats, cows, horses and sheep.
• They can be with or without horns, in warm fur coats and completely naked, large and small, but they all walk and run like ballerinas on their fingertips, “shod” in hard covers called hooves.

• Snow goat

  Snow goat
• Among the lucky owners of hooves, two independent groups of mammals are distinguished - artiodactyls and odd-toed ungulates. The first, as the name suggests, always have an even number of toes on their feet - two or four. These include bulls, antelopes, rams, and deer. The second ones have three or one toes - and, accordingly, one or three hooves. These are horses, tapirs and rhinoceroses.
• differ not only in the number of fingers, but also in the structure and development of the limbs. Many animals run and jump well, some also butt, and horses even bite, some constantly “chew the cud”, for which they are called “ruminants”.
• We have come close to the main point - their stomach. Yes, the path to understanding the diversity of forms of ungulate mammals lies through their special stomach.

• Yaks

  Yaks
• The overwhelming majority of ungulates are vegetarians; only omnivorous pigs destroy the peaceful appearance of representatives of these animals.
• Ungulates, simply put, nibble grass, pick leaves, branches, flowers and fruits from trees and shrubs. Even hippos graze on land and rest and cool off in the water.
• Some people nibble grass with their lips, like horses, while others do it with their tongues, like cows, antelopes and deer. The question is: how are such large animals weighing 50 kg. and above, can they feed themselves with such completely low-calorie food?
• After all, grass is sugar and starch, and there are very few proteins and fats. In addition, sugars are located inside cell walls, and fiber is not digested by most organisms living on Earth. How do ungulates solve this problem?
• Firstly, they carefully chew the grass, grinding it on their millstone teeth, and secondly and most importantly, they have learned to digest these cell walls.

• Noble deer

  Noble deer
• Horses, tapirs and rhinoceroses chew grass when grazing, i.e. once, and bulls, antelopes, deer, goats, rams, camels - twice, when they graze and when they rest.
• Their stomach is complex, multi-chambered, and the chewed grass is regurgitated again into the mouth, where it is chewed a second time (usually they say that they “chew the cud”, therefore they are “ruminants”).
• What does this give?
• Here's what: a horse's stomach will digest a portion of grass in 48 hours and receive 50% useful substances, and the cow devotes 80 hours to the same portion of grass and will squeeze out 80% of the hidden energy, therefore the cow’s nutrition is more efficient and it requires less feed.
• The horse wastes its source of energy, it is a more irresponsible consumer and it takes more time for it to actively feed, so Mother Nature made the right decisions. Ruminants can be content with a small amount of grass, from which they squeeze everything to the maximum, so they have mastered forests, tundra and deserts.
• Even-toed ungulates need a lot of grass, so they are associated with steppes and prairies. Where both groups live together, representatives of both groups in a peculiar way divide the “grass vertical”: zebras (even-toed ungulates) trim the “tops,” and gazelles and wildebeest (even-toed ungulates) eat the “roots.”

• Black antelope

  Black antelope
• We talked about nutrition and the stomach, let’s move on to further characteristics of ungulates.
• Hooves mean running, and running means speed.
• And although the cheetah takes the lead in speed, there are many excellent runners among ungulates. The pronghorn antelope is considered the fastest among artiodactyls, reaching speeds of up to 86 km. per hour, and among equids the fastest is the kulan - a relative of donkeys and horses.
• It is almost as good as the pronghorn and can gallop for a long time at 50 km per hour. Running away from a predator is the main means of salvation, although deer can hide in the dense forest.
• Ungulates have well-developed senses, including hearing and smell; many see well day and night. - animals are highly social and communicate with each other using smells and vocal signals. The language of smells is most developed in forest species.
• Even-toed ungulates noticeably lag behind artiodactyls in terms of the diversity of scent glands, but are superior in the richness of the sounds they produce.
• For example, deer and antelope seem completely mute compared to horses, which are capable of panting, snoring and neighing.
• Speaking about ungulates, how can one not remember their relationship with humans. Ancient people always lived surrounded by owners of horns and hooves, hunted them, depended on their wool and meat, worshiped them, and reproduced them in their rock paintings.

• Horses

  
  Horses
• Before others, goats and sheep entered the service, the ancestors of which were mountain sheep and mountain goats. Cattle breeding developed already 7500 BC, and possibly earlier.
• Wild forest aurochs became the ancestor of cows; independently of them, buffaloes were domesticated (in Tibet) in Africa, and then.
• Later than others, horses and donkeys entered the service of man. From other groups of ungulates it was possible to domesticate reindeer, llamas and other animals.
• It is difficult to imagine what human society would be like if it had not linked its fate with ungulate mammals.
• I suggest watching how a hippopotamus saves an antelope, and then a small zebra from the flow of a stormy river.

Even-toed ungulates that inhabit the planet today are placental mammals. All of them are divided into 3 suborders, composed of ten families, eighty-nine genera and 242 species of animals. Many species from this set play a very prominent role in human life. This especially applies to the bovid family.

Description

Animals of the artiodactyl family have huge variety body sizes and shapes. Their weight is also very different: a small deer weighs about 2 kilograms, while a hippopotamus weighs up to 4 tons. The height of animals can be from 23 cm for the same deer and up to 5 meters at the withers for a giraffe.

The peculiarity of artiodactyls, from which, in fact, the name of the family comes, is the presence of third and fourth fingers, which at their ends are covered with a thick hoof. All feet have separation between the toes. The number of digits in artiodactyls is reduced as a result of underdevelopment thumb. In addition, most species have reduced second and fifth fingers relative to the rest. This makes it possible to say that artiodactyl animals have 2 or 4 fingers.

In addition, the talus of artiodactyls is very specific: its structure absolutely limits lateral movement, making it possible to better bend/extend the hind limbs. Springy ligaments and the unique structure of the talus, long limbs and hard hooves give animals of this order the ability to move very quickly. Species living in snowy or sandy regions have splayed toes, which make it possible to distribute weight over a larger surface area, allowing them to feel more confident on loose surfaces.

Even-toed ungulates, the list of which is very diverse, are mostly herbivores. The exception is pigs and peccaries, which can feed on eggs and insect larvae.

Despite the fact that plants are an excellent source of a variety of useful substances, artiodactyls cannot digest lignin or cellulose due to the lack of the necessary enzymes. For this reason, even-toed ungulates are forced to rely more on microorganisms to help digest these complex compounds. All members of the family have at least one additional chamber of the digestive tract, which makes it possible to carry out bacterial fermentation. This chamber is also called the “false stomach”; it is located in front of the real one. Bovids and deer are equipped with three false stomachs; hippopotamuses, deer, camels - two; bakers and pigs - one.

Behavior

Artiodactyl animals in most cases lead a herd life. However, there are species that prefer to live alone. Feeding in groups significantly increases the food consumption of one individual. This happens because animals spend less time tracking a predator. However, as the number of individuals in the herd increases, competition within the species increases.

Most artiodactyls are forced to carry out seasonal migrations. There can be many reasons for this, but most often such trips are associated with natural changes: seasonal availability of food, increase in the number of predators, drought. Despite the fact that migration requires large physical and quantitative costs from the herd, it increases individual survival, leading to an improvement in intraspecific qualities.

Natural enemies of artiodactyls are dogs and cats. In addition, people also hunt these animals to obtain skins, meat and trophies. Before small predators The most vulnerable are the cubs, unable to move quickly or defend themselves.

Reproduction

To understand which animals are artiodactyls, you need to know how their reproduction occurs.

Most animals have polygynous relationships, but there are species that tend to be monogamous. Polygamy can be expressed not only in the protection of one’s own female or the entire harem, but also in the careful protection of the region in which the male lives and there is a sufficient number of females.

Most often, reproduction occurs once every year. But some species are capable of leaving offspring several times during the year. Artiodactyl animals, the list of which is offered below, can bear cubs from 4 to 15.5 months. In addition to pigs, which give birth to up to 12 babies in a litter, artiodactyls are capable of producing 1-2 cubs, weighing at birth from 500 grams to 80 kg.

Artiodactyls become fully adult animals capable of reproduction by 6-60 months (depending on the species). The birth of babies most often occurs during the plant growth season. Thus, animals inhabiting arctic and temperate regions give birth to their young in March-April, while tropical animals give birth at the beginning of the rainy season. The due date is especially important for the female, because she needs to regain strength not only after pregnancy, but also take into account the increased needs for nutrients ah for the entire period of lactation. A large amount of greenery allows the younger generation to grow faster.

Even domestic artiodactyls (the horse is not one of them) demonstrate early independence: within 1-3 hours after birth, the calf is able to move independently. By the end of the feeding period (lasting from 2 to 12 months in various types) the cub becomes completely independent.

Spreading

Even-toed ungulates, the names of which are difficult to list in one article, inhabit all ecosystems of the Earth. Human activity has led to the fact that many species now live far beyond their natural habitats.

Artiodactyls have a high degree of adaptability. They can live in any area that has food suitable for the animal. Despite the fact that such animals are common everywhere, it is more typical for them to live in open meadows, meadows near rocks, in bushes and forests, and in ecotones.

Classification

The order is divided into three suborders: callosed, ruminant and non-ruminant. Let's look at each of them in more detail.

Ruminants

This suborder includes 6 families. The name of the suborder comes from the fact that all animals belonging to it are able to digest food only after additional chewing of regurgitated food. Their stomach is complex, consisting of four or three chambers. In addition, ruminants lack upper incisors, but have upper underdeveloped canines.

This suborder includes:

Pronghorns.

Bovids.

Giraffidae.

Olenkovye.

Musk deer.

Reindeer.

Non-ruminants

Even-toed ungulates, photos of which are presented below, do not use “chewing gum” in digestion; their stomachs are quite simple, although they can be divided into three chambers. Feet most often have 4 toes. Tusk-shaped fangs, no horns.

Hippopotamuses.

Peccaries.

Calloused

This suborder consists of only one family - camelids. Animals have a three-chambered stomach. They do not have hooves as such; instead, they have limbs with two fingers, at the ends of which there are curved, blunt claws. When walking, camelids use not the tips of their fingers, but the entire area of ​​the phalanges. The lower surface of the feet has an unpaired or paired callosal pad.

Omnivores or herbivores

The order of artiodactyls includes many animals: hippopotamuses, antelopes, pigs, giraffes, goats, bulls and a huge number of other species. All artiodactyl animals (a horse is an odd-toed ungulate animal) have hooves - hard horny sheaths - at the ends of the phalanges of the toes. The limbs of these animals move parallel to the body, which is why artiodactyls have no clavicles. The vast majority of artiodactyls live in terrestrial systems, but hippos spend most time in water. Most artiodactyls are capable of moving very quickly.

It is believed that artiodactyls appeared in the Lower Eocine. The ancestors of these animals were primitive predators. Currently, all continents except Antarctica are inhabited by these animals. However, artiodactyls appeared in Australia artificially - brought by humans for the purpose of use in agriculture.

Nowadays, a rich list of extinct artiodactyls is known, most of which disappeared due to human fault. Many species are listed in the Red Book and are on the verge of extinction. These are Sakhalin musk deer, bison, Chukchi bighorn sheep, Ussuri spotted deer, gazelle and many others.

Is it possible to understand on your own which animals are artiodactyls? Yes, and it's not too difficult to do. In order to make sure that an animal belongs to this order, you just need to look at its legs. If the hoof is divided in half, then it is an artiodactyl animal. If there is no opportunity to look at the legs, it is enough to remember the close relatives of this species. For example, you cannot see the legs of a mountain sheep, but you are well aware that its domestic relative is the goat. Her hooves are split in half. Accordingly, these are artiodactyls.

Artiodactyls
Some mammals have very hard claws. They are called hooves. They are big enough to walk on. Hence the name of these animals - ungulates. There are artiodactyls and odd-toed ungulates. Everyone is interested in one question: which animals are artiodactyls? As a rule, these are called placental mammals. Placental mammals have two or three fingers. They are further divided into ruminant and non-ruminant. Ruminant artiodactyls include deer, antelope, cattle, camel, llama, giraffe and okapi. and hippos.
Even-toed ungulates have four toes, short legs, molars and canines. Ruminants have longer legs with two toes, have chewing teeth, and a more developed digestive system than non-ruminants. Mammals that fall into this group chew the cud. Now we will look at the list of artiodactyl animals.

Hippos
Hippos live only in Central, Western and South Africa. They live partly in water and partly on land. There are two types of hippopotamuses - ordinary and dwarf. The common hippopotamus, or hippopotamus, weighs up to 3,200 kg and is one of the largest land animals. Many artiodactyl animals spend most of the day in shallow bodies of water and emerge only at night. But pygmy hippos prefer to be near water, and they enter a reservoir only in case of danger. The hippopotamus' skin is hairless. Most common hippos are gray-brown in color, while pygmy hippos are black and brown. The gland secretion of the common hippopotamus is reddish in color and is often mistaken for blood. This secret makes the animal's skin shiny. It protects it from drying out in the sun. Pygmy hippopotamuses secrete the same secretion, only colorless, and it has the same purpose. Hippopotamuses' eyes are slightly bulging and located on the top of the head. Therefore, when swimming, these artiodactyl animals are above the water. Hippopotamuses' nostrils also point upward and can close tightly when diving.
Camels and llamas
Camels and llamas are ruminants. Even-toed ungulates of the llama genus are characterized by upper lips that are divided into two parts and are capable of moving separately from each other. There are two types of camels and four types of llamas. Camels are divided into two-humped (Bactrian) and one-humped (dromedary) camels, or Arabian camels. Contrary to popular belief, camels do not store water in their humps. His humps contain a large number of fat and serve as reserves of nutrients that are consumed during times of famine. Both artiodactyls are common in the deserts of Asia and North Africa.

Key facts
The black-footed antelope can jump over a fence 3 m high. In addition, the artiodactyl animal is able to cover a distance of 10 m in one jump.
The king antelope, which is only 25 cm tall, is the smallest antelope, while the kappa antelope, which can weigh up to 900 kg, is the largest species.
Giraffes can run at a speed of 56 km per hour, but it turns out that these artiodactyl animals cannot walk quickly - they have long legs.
Pygmy hippos are the most small view hippos. Their height is only 75 cm, and their weight is about 160-270 kg.
Antelope and deer
Antelope is a ruminant with a pair of pointed, hollow horns. Most antelopes live in open grasslands, but some small even-toed ungulates prefer to live near forested areas so that in case of danger they can hide in dense foliage from predators. Those who live in open areas rely only on the speed of their feet and flee from their enemies. Unlike antelopes, deer have branched antlers, which they shed every year. Deer antlers are hard and bony. In deer, only males have antlers; in antelope, both males and females have antlers.
Giraffe
The giraffe is a cloven-hoofed animal. It is the tallest animal on Earth. An adult male can reach a height of 6 m. Giraffes live in savannas and forest areas. The giraffe's body is shorter than that of other artiodactyls. Its front legs are longer than its hind legs. Adult giraffes have very large hooves. The length of the animal’s neck reaches 1.5 m and consists of only a few vertebrae. These vertebrae are very long and separated from each other by movable joints. Long neck and unusually high growth help animals reach leaves where others cannot reach them. Giraffes have a very long tongue - they can stick it out 45 cm. Their tongue and lips are covered with hard growths, which allows them to eat leaves even from thorny trees. Both males and females have small horns covered with skin. Tufts of black fur grow at the tips of these horns.
Born for the desert
The Arabian camel is well adapted to life in the desert. It has wide pads and calluses on its soles - these calloused, two-toed protrusions on its feet prevent them from becoming hot while standing on the hot desert sand. The Arabian camel's nostrils close to prevent sand from entering the nose. The eyelashes of artiodactyl animals are very long - they protect the eyes from heat and sand.
All the species that we have considered are artiodactyl animals of Africa. There are individuals that live outside the “Dark Continent”. Of course, there are species that are mistakenly considered representatives of this order.
According to many people, a horse is a cloven-hoofed animal. But in reality this is not the case; to be convinced, you just have to look at the structure of this species. There is only one developed toe on each leg and it is covered with a hoof.
Even-toed ungulates of the bovid family include several species. This order includes approximately 140 species. Among the most famous are bulls, gazelles, antelopes, buffaloes and bison. Here the main difference is only in one component - the horn. As a rule, there are two of them, the maximum length is 1.5 m. Some females do not have these outgrowths. No artiodactyl animal of the bovid family is characterized by branched horns. As a rule, such species live in open areas. The largest representative is the gaur, its height is 2.2 m. The minimum dimensions are observed in the royal antelope. She is no more tall than a domestic cat.

The artiodactyl animal of the deer family includes more than 50 species. Most of them live in Eurasia and America, and have recently been found in Australia (introduced). Sizes vary. The smallest representatives are as tall as a hare, and the largest are akin to horses. The horns are branched and are characteristic exclusively of males. Each artiodactyl family bovids lose their antlers every year, but after 12 months they grow back. The beast begins its origins in the Oligocene.
Artiodactyl domestic animals.
This order includes those species that over many years have been able to find themselves among people. The latter keep such animals for food. Such animals reproduce without problems, passing on all their skills sexually. Humans have a huge influence on these animals. Most often, horses, goats, cows and sheep are found in the courtyards of villages and cities. Perhaps without these animals we could not exist at all.
- Far Eastern artiodactyl animal. By appearance it resembles an ordinary pig that we are used to seeing in our yard. But this type distinguished by well-developed fangs. As a rule, the length of such an animal is 205 cm and the height is 120 cm. Weight Limit reaches 320 kg. Unlike a pig, a boar's rear end is very low. That's why the animal sometimes seems poor and helpless. So, now you understand which animals are artiodactyls.