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.
The New World screwworm fly has reached south Texas, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed Wednesday, the first time in decades that the parasite with flesh-eating larvae has threatened the nation's cattle industry ...
Agriculture
Jun 4, 2026
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It's a mild early spring morning at the historic Cottonwood Field Station in western South Dakota, and a herd of 150 Angus steers are scheduled to move to a new pasture rotation. Moving cattle can be tricky and often requires ...
Biotechnology
Jun 2, 2026
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25
By using clearcutting, industrial forestry has caused a large-scale decline of hair lichens in Sweden's forests. In a large-scale field-experiment, researchers from Umeå University, University of Northern British Columbia, ...
Ecology
Jun 1, 2026
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10
A celebrated scheme for human-wildlife coexistence is now at risk of failing due to lack of long-term government investment, new research has found.
Plants & Animals
Jun 1, 2026
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9
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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48
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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275
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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14
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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30
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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23
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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