Article
Article
Perissodactyla
Article By:
Prothero, Donald R. Occidental College, Los Angeles, California.
Last reviewed:September 2021
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.499400
An order of herbivorous, odd-toed, hoofed mammals, including the living horses, zebras, donkeys, rhinoceroses, tapirs, and their extinct relatives. Members of the order Perissodactyla, or perissodactyls, are odd-toed ungulates (mammals with hooves). Perissodactyls are defined by a number of unique specializations, but the most diagnostic feature is their feet. Most perissodactyls have either one or three toes on each foot, and the axis of symmetry of the foot runs through the middle digit. Perissodactyls are divided into three families: Equidae, which includes horses, donkeys (asses), zebras, and their extinct relatives; Rhinocerotidae, which includes rhinoceroses and their extinct relatives; and Tapiridae, which includes tapirs (see illustration) and their extinct relatives. See also: Extinction; Horse production; Mammalia; Rhinoceros; Tapir
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