Artiodactyls, classified in the order Artiodactyla, are even-toed ungulate mammals characterized by bearing weight primarily on the third and fourth digits of each limb, which are usually of similar size and aligned symmetrically. This order includes diverse families such as Bovidae (cattle, antelopes, goats), Cervidae (deer), Suidae (pigs), and Hippopotamidae (hippopotamuses), and, in many modern treatments, is combined with Cetacea in the clade Cetartiodactyla based on molecular and morphological evidence. Artiodactyls exhibit a wide range of digestive specializations, notably ruminant foregut fermentation in many lineages, and occupy varied terrestrial and semi-aquatic ecological niches.
For decades, ecologists have theorized that the extinction of one important species could set off a chain reaction of losses throughout an ecosystem. Now, new research offers some of the clearest real-world evidence that ...
Plants & Animals
May 29, 2026
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Wild pigs are generally considered among the world's most problematic invasive mammals. But a major new study from Aarhus Universitet shows that the introduced animals may actually have beneficial effects in North American ...
Plants & Animals
May 28, 2026
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When a semi-trailer burst into flames on a highway in northern New South Wales, it wasn't only the driver who had to flee for his life.
Veterinary medicine
May 26, 2026
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NASA had a big—and little—problem. For a small satellite, the agency needed a tiny antenna, with very specific communication capabilities and very strict limits on size and weight. The agency gave the problem to a design ...
Evolution
May 26, 2026
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Cattle ranching is the biggest driver of tropical deforestation, but it is also a key livelihood for nearly 1 billion smallholder farmers. A global study by Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU) shows that this tension can ...
Ecology
May 26, 2026
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As people in the United States are coping with historic drought conditions, the country's wildlife is also facing problems because of the extreme aridity. Herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores in the southwestern U.S. have ...
Plants & Animals
May 25, 2026
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A new study, published in Ecology and Evolution, shows that social living is associated with longer lifespan, but also that the benefits of sociality level off once animals move beyond living in pairs.
Evolution
May 22, 2026
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Hurricanes can be a devastating force—leveling trees, erasing beaches and damaging homes. But what do they do to wildlife? The answer ranges from the good to the bad to the ugly. Hurricanes sometimes help native species, ...
Evolution
May 22, 2026
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A new large-scale study led by a research team from the Yale Center for Biodiversity and Global Change has found that wildlife responds not only to how humans reshape their habitats, but also to the simple presence of humans—and ...
Plants & Animals
May 21, 2026
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An AI-powered camera platform could soon help monitor the health and behavior of zoo animals overnight, thanks to a new partnership between the University of Surrey and Marwell Wildlife. Researchers from Surrey's Centre for ...
Ecology
May 21, 2026
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