Ungulate

"Ungulate" means roughly "hoofed" or "hoofed animal." Ungulates make up several orders of mammals, of which five are alive: the Artiodactyla? (even-toed ungulates and whales), Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates such as horses and rhinos), Proboscidea (elephants), Sirenia (manatees) and Hyracoidea? (hyraxes). Most large land mammals are ungulates.

Extinct ungulate groups include Ancylopoda and Mesonychids.

In addition to hooves, ungulates developed reduced canine teeth, bunodont molars (molars with low, rounded cusps), and an astragalus (one of the ankle bones at the end of the lower leg) with a short, robust head. Ungulates diversified rapidly in the Eocene, but are thought to date back perhaps as far as the Late Cretaceous. Most ungulates are herbivorous, but a few are omnivorous or predaceous (e.g. some whales and the extinct mesonychids).