Artiodactyls are a family of mammals. There are 242 species of them.
Due to the fact that these animals have hooves, they are called the artiodactyl order. Such animals usually have two or four fingers.
The artiodactyl order is herbivorous. A detachment of artiodactyls lives in families. Due to natural changes, some artiodactyls carry out seasonal migrations.
The order of artiodactyls can be hunted by animals such as cats and dogs. People are also enemies of artiodactyls. They kill them for meat and skin.
The order Artiodactyls is divided into calloseds, ruminants and non-ruminants. Let's take a closer look at the class of ruminant artiodactyls.
This order of ruminant artiodactyls includes:
Giraffidae family
The giraffe family includes two species: giraffes and okapi. Let's look briefly at each type.
Giraffes.
The giraffe is the tallest animal that lives in the savannas of Africa.
Giraffes grow up to six meters tall and weigh a ton. Its legs are long, and its front legs are longer than its hind legs. The tail is long, reaching one meter. There are bony horns on the head. The eyes are large and the tongue is very long - 45 centimeters.
They lie down very rarely. Giraffes even sleep standing up. These animals move very quickly. Their speed can reach sixty kilometers per hour.
Giraffes live in herds of up to twenty individuals. Life expectancy is fifteen years.
Okapi.
Okapi resemble a horse, but are related to the giraffe. They have another name - forest giraffe. They live in the mountains and plains of the Republic of Congo.
This animal has a very interesting coloring: the legs are like a zebra's, that is, with black and white stripes. The muzzle is black with white spots, on top there are horns like a giraffe. Females do not have such horns.
The body is dark brown. The tail is long - forty centimeters. The animal reaches two meters in length. And the height is almost two meters. They weigh on average 250 kilograms. The tongue is long and blue, its length is thirty centimeters. The ears are large and sensitive.
Due to the decrease in the number of okapi, they are listed in the Red Book.
Deer family.
The deer family includes two genera of deer:
- Asian deer;
- Water deer.
Asian deer- These are the smallest ruminant ungulates. They live in the forests of Asia. Their body length reaches seventy centimeters. And the weight does not exceed eight kilograms. Deer have no antlers. The fur color of Asian deer is brown. They are only nocturnal.
Water deer- larger than Asiatic deer. Their body length reaches one hundred centimeters. Body weight reaches fifteen kilograms. And these deer don’t grow antlers either, but the males have long upper canines. They are nocturnal, like Asiatic deer. Coat color is brown.
Musk deer family
The musk deer family includes only one genus - musk deer.
Musk deer- This is an unusual animal that has fangs. They are located on the upper jaw.
These animals live in the mountains in northern Russia, as well as in China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Vietnam, Nepal, and Korea.
The length of these animals is small - one meter, and the height is eighty centimeters. The weight of musk deer does not exceed eighteen kilograms.
This amazing animal eats lichens, epiphytes, blueberry leaves, pine needles and ferns.
The life expectancy of these animals is very short - five years. And only in captivity they can live no more than twelve years.
Deer family
Deer family- belongs to the order of ruminant artiodactyls that live in America, Europe, and Africa.
The entire deer family has branched and long antlers, which they shed in winter. Females do not grow such horns. The horns of males are very heavy, approximately thirty kilograms. And their length can reach two meters.
The size of deer can vary. Some are as tall as a dog, while others are as tall as a bull.
Deer feed on leaves, shoots of bushes and trees.
The deer family consists of three subfamilies, nineteen genera and fifty-one species. The most interesting are the following:
- Red deer are the largest deer. Their weight can reach three hundred kilograms.
- The white type of deer is the rarest deer with a white coat.
- The American species is the white-tailed deer. They live in North America.
- Siberian breed. It includes the following breeds: Even, Chukchi, Evenki, Nenets.
- Pudu is the smallest species of deer. His height does not exceed forty centimeters, and his weight does not exceed ten kilograms.
Bovid family
The bovid family includes:
- Buffaloes;
- Bison;
- Bulls;
- Rams;
- Goats;
- Antelopes;
- Gazelles.
Let's look briefly at each type.
Buffaloes.
The buffalo is a very dangerous animal, especially for humans. Statistics show that more than two hundred people die from this animal every year.
The weight of the buffalo reaches a ton, its height is two meters, and its length is more than three meters.
These animals feed exclusively on grass. Every day they eat twenty kilograms of fresh grass.
Buffaloes have huge horns that curl inward.
Bison.
The bison is a very powerful and strong animal. It is often confused with the bison. They reach three meters in length and two meters in height. Weight ranges from 700 to 1 thousand kilograms.
Bison live in western and northern Missouri. These animals live in herds. Their number consists of twenty thousand individuals. The bison eats only grass. He eats up to twenty-five kilograms of fresh grass a day.
The life expectancy of a bison does not exceed twenty-five years.
Bulls.
The bull is a cloven-hoofed ruminant mammal. There are the following types of bulls:
- Wild bull - lives in nature, is the predecessor of the domestic bull.
- Domestic bull - bred by humans for milk, meat and leather.
- The musk ox is the only representative of the musk oxen.
- Tibetan bull. Another name for this animal is Yak. It differs from other bulls in its hair, which hangs from the sides and covers the legs.
Rams.
A ram is a mammal. Its length can reach 180 centimeters, height 130 centimeters, and weight from 25 to 220 kilograms. Distinctive feature these animals are their horns. They are very large, massive and twisted.
Rams are divided into the following types:
Goats.
A goat is a ruminant animal. They are domestic and wild. Most goats have a beard. The coat, depending on the breed, can be short or long. The horns are long and curved back.
The lifespan of goats does not exceed ten years.
Antelope.
Antelopes are a subfamily of bovids. Their body length ranges from twenty centimeters to two meters.
Gazelles.
The gazelle is a small animal that belongs to the antelope subfamily. The length of the gazelle does not exceed 170 centimeters, height - 110 centimeters, and weight - no more than 85 kilograms.
The gazelle's horns are long and lyre-shaped. Their length can reach eighty centimeters.
Basically, these animals live in Africa. Gazelle live in herds consisting of thousands of individuals.
12.07.2016
Even-toed and equid representatives of the fauna have a number of differences and dissimilar features not only in external data and structure, but also in behavior and life activity in nature. For most schoolchildren, distinguishing between these two classes of mammals is quite problematic.
Speaking of horses, this family has one hoof, so it cannot even be visually classified as artiodactyls. Therefore, in addition to the theory in textbooks and books on zoology, according to external features, both horses and various rhinoceroses and representatives of tapirs are classified as equids. In total there are about 17 species of such animals. Zoologist Richard Owen united all externally different animals into one class of odd-toed ungulates, after conducting a series of studies in the 19th century.
Signs of artiodactyls
In order to understand what are the distinctive features of the two classes of mammals, artiodactyls and equids, you should first determine which families are part of them. 
Artiodactyl animals include the following representatives of the fauna:
- ruminants - bulls, sheep, giraffes, deer, bison, pronghorns, and antelopes;
- non-ruminants - pigs, hippos, peccaries;
- calloused, namely camels.
As a rule, the limbs of such animals end in a special case in the form of hooves. A distinctive feature of artiodactyls is a reduced first digit on the limbs, as well as underdeveloped second and fifth digits. Typically, individuals of this type have large or medium body dimensions, as well as an elongated muzzle; if they are ruminants, additional horns.
All continents of the world are inhabited by artiodactyls, the only exception being Antarctica. Previously, these creatures were not located on the territory of the island of Australia, but thanks to human efforts, this “shortcoming” was corrected. Most often, animals of the artiodactyl class inhabit steppe and flat areas, tundra, deserts, and savannas. They can be found much less often in forests and thickets. 
The main differences between artiodactyls and equids are the following:
- Artiodactyl representatives of the fauna have a hoof with a pair of fingers, while odd-toed ungulates have a limb with an odd number of fingers covered by a hoof.
- In the wild, representatives of the artiodactyl class are more common around the world; for weeks they are “opponents”.
- In addition, artiodactyl animals have a complicated form of digestion, involving a multi-chambered stomach.
Why is a horse an odd-toed ungulate?
In addition to horses (donkeys and zebras), the order of odd-toed ungulates includes the following animals: the tapir and rhinoceros families. Initially, such representatives of the fauna were widely distributed everywhere except Australia and Antarctica. As has already become known, the horse belongs to the equid class, as it has a single solid hoof, which is marked and focused on the third toe of the limb. The remaining fingers, namely the second and fourth fingers, are so underdeveloped by nature that they do not reach the ground. 
The next sign by which a horse is classified into this class of animals is its digestive system. In such creatures, food digestion occurs not in the stomach, as many assumed, but in the large intestine. Due to this, there is no need for such creatures to have a multi-chamber stomach; in their structure, scientists have discovered a single-chamber organ. In general, both horses and other animals of the equid class belong to this category of animals due to the odd number of active “walking” fingers.
In addition, there are a number of typical distinctive features of equids:
- between the talus and navicular bones a special additional joint is supposed, due to which the mobility of the limbs is reduced;
- oblong head shape and long upper jaw;
- There is a wide contact between the lacrimal and nasal bones;
- horns are made of keratin;
- enlarged lower jaw and deepened jaw joint.
According to all the above signs and characteristics, a clear representative of the equid class is the equine family.
Characteristic features of a horse as an equid animal
In addition to the above obvious differences between equid horses and other species of animals of the artiodactyl class, there are a number of secondary characteristics of these noble animals. Such animals lead a more active lifestyle during twilight and night. They feed exclusively on vegetation, namely leaves and grasses, as well as other parts of plants.
In addition, equid animals, namely horses, produce small offspring and require a long gestation period. Usually, during birth, individuals give birth to one baby at a time. In captivity, animals can live up to 50 years.
Odd-toed ungulates are a group of terrestrial placental mammals belonging to the phylum chordates. Together with the order, artiodactyls are true ungulates. This order includes animals of large and very large sizes with an odd number of fingers on their limbs (one or three) forming the hooves. The artiodactyl order unites three families: rhinoceroses, equines, and tapirs. Currently, 17 species of animals are known that belong according to the classification to this order.
The earliest finds of fossil remains of equids date back to the beginning of the Eocene period. Before the beginning of the Miocene period, there was a flourishing of equids. Scientists associate the decline and extinction of some species of artiodactyls with the wide distribution in the middle Miocene period of artiodactyls, which occupied the same ecological niches, but had the advantage of a more developed digestive system.
Wild equids are currently found in the steppes, deserts, forest-steppes of Central and South America, South and East Africa, Central, Southeast and South Asia. Reduced living space and hunting have led to a reduction in the number of wild species of equids. Many of these animals are domesticated. Thus, domestic horses and donkeys are widespread throughout the globe; they were also brought to Australia by humans.
Representatives various types lead different lifestyles, often determined by their habitat. The activity of these animals is crepuscular or nocturnal. Equines form herds and inhabit open spaces - steppes, savannas, and semi-deserts. Rhinoceroses lead a solitary lifestyle. They can be seen in African savannas and swampy, forested areas of Asia. Tapirs live alone and are found mainly in tropical forests. All animals from the order of equids are herbivores. They eat herbaceous plants, leaves and other parts of bushes and trees.
All equids have common structural features, mainly related to the structure of the limbs and teeth. The sizes of these animals are medium or large. The body length can reach 5 m, and the height at the withers is 2 m. Rhinoceroses are the second largest after elephants among terrestrial small-feeders. The severity of hair varies from person to person different types. Thus, in rhinoceroses it is rare; the epidermis is thickened. Horses and tapirs have short and thick hair, its color is gray or brown. Zebras are characterized by vertical black and white stripes. Baby tapirs have horizontal stripes on the body.
Due to the fact that in equids the greatest load falls on the center of the limb, the third finger is better developed, the rest have atrophied to varying degrees. Only in tapirs because soft soils in their habitat, four fingers were preserved on the forelimbs, and three on the hind limbs. Horses have only one toe per limb, and the hoof covers it completely. Tapirs and rhinoceroses have only the front hoof.
In equids, the number and structure of teeth differs depending on the type of food. Fangs and incisors are small or absent altogether, like those of African rhinoceroses. The head of these animals is oblong in shape, the upper jaw is elongated. Therefore, between the front and lateral teeth of the upper jaw there is free space - diastema. The size and height of the molars are different and depend on whether the animal eats hard or soft plant food. In those species that eat mainly grass, the jaws are massive, the jaw joint is set deep, and the jaw is relatively large. Rhinoceroses have one or two horns made of keratin, and not of bone tissue, like artiodactyls.
The structure of the digestive tract of equids is very different from that of artiodactyls. They have a single-chamber simple stomach, and food is digested for a long time in the large intestine, like in rodents. The intestines of these animals are long, in horses - up to 26 m.
Females have a bicornuate uterus. The gestation period is long (from 330 to 500 days), the offspring are few. In most cases, the female gives birth to one baby. Newborns are able to move after their mother within a few hours. Only among tapirs do babies spend the first few days after birth in a secluded place. During the year, the female feeds the cubs with milk; sexual maturity occurs between the ages of two and eight years. The life expectancy of equids reaches 50 years.
In the history of mankind, the domesticated horse and donkey from the order of equids played important role as vehicles, as well as during agricultural work. These species of equids were domesticated several thousand years ago BC. Currently, due to the development of science and technology, these animals are not used in developed countries. They are bred for sports and as a hobby. But in developing countries, equids are still common among domestic animals. Today, some species of the equid order are close to extinction. These are the Przewalski's horse, Sumatran rhinoceros, African donkey, black rhinoceros, Javan rhinoceros, mountain zebra, mountain tapir, Grévy's zebra, Indian rhinoceros.
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 of the digestive system, as well as the suborder of calloused animals, 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. A characteristic feature of all artiodactyls is the paired number of fingers on the 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 zones, and are found in forests and mountainous areas. The greatest species diversity is observed in open spaces, for example, in savannas.
Artiodactyls have medium or large sizes bodies. 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. These are 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.
Artiodactyls and odd-toed ungulates are two orders of the class Mammals. Due to the similar sound and relative similarity of both groups of animals, identifying the differences between them poses a certain difficulty for schoolchildren.
Who are artiodactyls and odd-toed ungulates?
Artiodactyls- This is one of the orders of Mammals.
Odd-toed ungulates- one of the orders of Mammals.
Comparison of artiodactyls and equids
What is the difference between artiodactyls and equids?
Artiodactyls are an order of Mammals. It includes 3 suborders:
- ruminants - deer, giraffes, bulls, pronghorns, sheep, bison and antelopes;
- calloused - camels;
- non-ruminants - hippopotamuses, pigs and peccaries.
Artiodactyls are animals whose developed ends of the third and fourth classes are covered with a special case - the hoof. At the same time, their first finger is reduced, and the second and fifth are underdeveloped.
Artiodactyls are large and medium-sized animals. They have a characteristic elongated muzzle, and ruminants also have the obligatory decoration in the form of horns.
Artiodactyls are common on all continents except Antarctica. Initially, they were not only in Australia, but man “corrected” this oversight of Nature. Most of them live in open spaces (savannas, deserts, tundra, steppes). A minority of the squad chose the forest to live.
Odd-toed ungulates are an order of Mammals. Today, only 3 families of the once numerous taxon remain on Earth:
- the Equine family - horses, zebras and donkeys;
- Tapirov family;
- Rhino family.
Odd-toed ungulates are animals whose hoof “covers” an odd number of toes.
Even-toed ungulates were once common on all continents except Antarctica and Australia. But in the wild, representatives of certain families can only be found in Africa, South and Central America, and Southeast Asia.
In addition to the number of phalanges forming the limbs, another characteristic difference between the two orders of these animals, which formed the basis of the taxonomy, is the structure of the digestive system. The fact is that in equids the main digestion of food occurs in the large intestine, and in artiodactyls - in the stomach. Therefore, in equids the stomach is single-chambered, while in artiodactyls it consists of four sections - the rumen, the mesh, the book, and the abomasum.
TheDifference.ru determined that the difference between artiodactyls and equids is as follows:
- In artiodactyls, a pair of toes form the hoof; in equids, the hoof “covers” an odd number of toes.
- Artiodactyls in the wild are more common than equids.
- Artiodactyls have a more complex structure digestive system and a multi-chambered stomach is present. More details: