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| - The horse belongs to the order Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates), the members of which all share hooved feet and an odd number of toes on each foot, as well as mobile upper lips and a similar tooth structure. This means that horses share a common ancestry with tapirs and rhinoceroses. The perissodactyls arose in the late Paleocene, less than 10 million years after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. This group of animals appears to have been originally specialized for life in tropical forests, but whereas tapirs and, to some extent, rhinoceroses, retained their jungle specializations, modern horses are adapted to life on drier land, in the much harsher climatic conditions of the steppes. Other species of Equus are adapted to a variety of intermediate conditions.
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| abstract
| - The horse belongs to the order Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates), the members of which all share hooved feet and an odd number of toes on each foot, as well as mobile upper lips and a similar tooth structure. This means that horses share a common ancestry with tapirs and rhinoceroses. The perissodactyls arose in the late Paleocene, less than 10 million years after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. This group of animals appears to have been originally specialized for life in tropical forests, but whereas tapirs and, to some extent, rhinoceroses, retained their jungle specializations, modern horses are adapted to life on drier land, in the much harsher climatic conditions of the steppes. Other species of Equus are adapted to a variety of intermediate conditions. The early ancestors of the modern horse walked on several spread-out toes, an accommodation to life spent walking on the soft, moist grounds of primeval forests. As grass species began to appear and flourish, the equids' diets shifted from foliage to grasses, leading to larger and more durable teeth. At the same time, as the steppes began to appear, the horse's predecessors needed to be capable of greater speeds to outrun predators. This was attained through the lengthening of limbs and the lifting of some toes from the ground in such a way that the weight of the body was gradually placed on one of the longest toes, the third. It is estimated that the horse has an age of about 55 million years. The fossil found of the Eohippus, or dawn horse, measures about 30 centimeters, and in life spread to Europe, in the period called Eocene. Several types of evolution took place: The Mesohippus, a little older, that existed 25 to 40 million years ago; The Miohippus followed him; And then the Merychippus. The latter had a certain resemblance to the donkey. The Dinohippus and the Pliohippus were the first species that had formed helmets, although their fingers had already disappeared. About 8,000 years ago, during the Ice Age, the number of the ancestors of the present horse was decreasing until completely extinguished of the American continent. The few survivors began to be distributed throughout Asia, Europe and Africa, and became the predecessors of the horse that today is known as Eqqus caballus. The races that exist today fall from four basic types: the horse of the forest, strong animal that gave origin to the draft horses; The finest horse of the plateau, from which came the small, sturdy, semi-wild Mongolian Horses; The horse of the steppe, progenitor of the oriental races, as the Arabian and the barbarian; And the tundra horse, big and heavy, like the Yukat from the polar religions.
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![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)