Equidae

If you were to think of a horse today, you would say they are big, strong mammals. 55 mya, horses did not look like this. With the mannerisms of a deer and the traits of a dog, the first known horse darted through forests in North America during the Eocene Period. As time went by, many horses evolved like the Orohippus, Epihippus, Mesohippus, Miohippus, Parahippus, Merychippus, Pliohippus, Dinohippus, and finally the Equus. In Greek, ‘hippus’ means horse. Fossils of the first known horse were found in 1841, and were initially called Hyracotherium leporinum. In 1876, a full skeleton of it was found in North America by Othniel Marsh. It was then given the name Eohippus, which means “dawn horse”. Many believe it was the ancestor of modern day horses; however, some paleontologists think it was a cousin, not a direct ancestor. This horse was as big as a small dog, only about 12 inches tall and two feet long. Its characteristics are very different from the modern day horse. The Eohippus had an arched back, short face, snout, and neck, and a long tail. It had four toes on its front feet and three on the back feet which all had pads on them, like a dog would. The teeth of this animal were very different. It had three incisors, one canine, four premolars, and three grinding molars on each side of the jaw. Although the features were different between the two, they had one similarity: Both were grazing herbivores. The area they lived in was covered in forests, encouraging the…

Five morphological observations were made from looking at the unknown fossil specimen. See the list of the observations that were made. Figure 4 Fossil Cladogram was then redrawn into the lab journal and a prediction was made on the fossil placement on the cladogram based on the observations. Next, an explanation of the reasons for the prediction was then recorded in the lab notebook. The four gene file were then downloaded onto the computer by going to the website listed below. Since the gene…

causes this increase because for many species, having a bigger body size results in an increase in fitness. However, there are several changes that occurred in the Equidae family that are as significant to evolution as body size. The discovery of Equidae fossils worldwide has provided excellent evidence of the evolution which has affected many characteristics of the family. An example of one or the most notable alternations seen between the first ancestor, the Eohippus of the Eocene period,…

french appetite for horse meat originated from the battle of Eylau in 1807 when Napoleon's army chief Baron Dominique-Jean Larry, implied the starving troops to eat the flesh of the inanimate battle horses. Today's stats of horses killed in Europe for their meat is 250,000. The itinerary the horses have to endure to be transported to the slaughter plants consists of them, travelling tens of thousands of horses across copious borders, often crammed together in inadequate vehicles this can last…

Science Aspect 1 – Who am I? Scientific Name: Equus Caballus Common Name: Horse Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Perissodactyla Family: Equidae Kingdom: Animalia Genus: Equus Species: Caballus (Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, 2012) (Scientific classification of horses, n.d.,) (Fredrickson, 2000) Aspect 2 – Reasons for the Introduction The story of the Brumby began in 1788 when the First Fleet arrived in Australia (Dawson, 2005). Domestic horses originated from England and were…

First let 's answer the question what makes a horse a horse in scientific terms. “The horse family today is quite small, consisting only of seven living species, which include donkeys and zebras. The closest relative outside of the Equus family are Perissodactyls, most of which are extinct. They include rhinocerose, which is the horses’ closest living relative” (MacPhee, 2008). According to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System, the modern horse 's taxonomy is as follows: • Kingdom:…