By Donald R. Prothero
Because the extinction of the dinosaurs, hoofed mammals were the planet's dominant herbivores. local to all continents other than Australia and Antarctica, they comprise not just even-toed artiodactyls (pigs, hippos, camels, deer, antelopes, giraffes, sheep, goats, and livestock) and odd-toed perissodactyls (horses and rhinos), but additionally tethytheres (elephants and their aquatic family members, manatees and seas cows) and cetaceans (whales and dolphins), which descended from hoofed land mammals. fresh paleontological and organic discoveries have deepened our knowing in their evolution and now and again have made prior theories out of date. In Horns, Tusks, and Flippers, Donald R. Prothero and Robert M. Schoch current a compelling new evolutionary historical past of those outstanding creatures, combining the newest medical proof with the most up-tp-date information regarding their ecology and behavior.Using an strategy in line with cladistics, the authors ponder either residing and extinct ungulates. incorporated of their dialogue are the tales of rhinos, whose ancestors comprise either dinosaur-sized hornless species and hippo-like river waders; elephants, whose earliest ancestors had neither tusks nor trunks; and whales, whose descent from hoofed mesonychids hasn't ever correctly been defined for the lay viewers. Prothero and Schoch additionally replace the evolutionary historical past of the pony, correcting the common mistakes made in textbooks and renowned works, and so they make to be had to most people new facts in regards to the evolution of camels, horned antelopes, and farm animals. moreover, they bring up very important conservation concerns and relate anecdotes of important fossil finds.Scientifically actual and recent, generously illustrated, and obviously written, Horns, Tusks, and Flippers is an invaluable and much-needed source for experts within the fields of paleontology, zoology, ecology, and evolutionary biology, in addition to for normal readers attracted to studying extra concerning the tale of lifestyles in the world.
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Additional resources for Horns, Tusks, and Flippers: The Evolution of Hoofed Mammals
Sample text
But, as Ken Rose has shown, the rest of the skeletons of these "candidates for ancestry" have their own specializations, and do not show much affinity with Diacodexis. In addition, Earl Manning has shown that the most primitive artiodactyls are even more primitive than most of the known arctocyonids or hyopsodonts, and must have branched off first before these other groups evolved. The discovery of the primitive Diacodexis from Pakistan suggests that our North American bias was a mistake. As we get better and better fossils from poorly explored places such as Asia and Africa, we are finding many specimens that shatter old notions of deriving everything from well-known North American fossils.
Some have suggested that it served as an attachment point for complicated jaw muscles. However, it is hard to imagine that their diet was so different from smaller pig-like forms that it required such unusual bony growths. Their presence around the eyes suggests another hypothesis-they were used for threat and display rituals~ Most artiodactyls today used their horns or antlers to signal their position in the herd, and threaten rivals with a display of their size. Since the piglike artiodactyIs never developed either horns or antlers, they must have used their huge canines and their weird bony cheekbones for the same purpose.
Instead, it has fairly long, robust limbs, and most of its weight was in the pig-like body and huge head. Daeodon was like Archaeotherium in having the broad, flaring cheekbones and bony protuberances on the base of the jaw, but they were even more extreme. The cheekbones of Daeodon even had a thick bony flange that stuck out from the side of the face like a set of wings. No one knows what all this bone was for. Some have suggested that it served as an attachment point for complicated jaw muscles.