From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Odd-toed ungulates
are the
Perissodactyla
, an
order
of
mammals
.
Odd-toed
ungulates
have an uneven number of
toes
:
Horses
have only one toe,
rhinoceros
have three toes, and
tapirs
have four toes on the front feet and three toes on the hind feet.
Their
digestive system
is more basic than the even-toed ungulates. A key difference between the two is that odd-toed ungulates digest plant
cellulose
in their intestines rather than in one or more stomach chambers as the
even-toed ungulates
do.
Horses, for example, get much less nutrition out of grass than
bovines
do. This has the consequence that horses have to stop and feed more often, which in turn makes them more liable to predators. However, horses are very well-
adapted
for running, more so than many
oxen
or other Artiodactyls.
The living ungulates are a much-reduced group: the horses (including
zebras
), the
tapirs
and the
rhinoceros
.
[1]
- ↑
Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1999,
ISBN 0-8018-5789-9