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 first study to measure wild ungulate (axis deer, mouflon sheep, goats, pigs, etc.) grazing on Hawaiʻi rangelands finds forage losses at two-thirds of sites surveyed, with axis deer the clearest driver of decline across ...
Ecology
Sep 22, 2026
0
33
Gastrointestinal parasites can cause serious health problems in North American bison, but the drugs producers rely on to control them can become less effective when used too frequently or without knowing which animals actually ...
Veterinary medicine
Sep 21, 2026
0
18
When most Australians say 'spring is in the air,' they're speaking metaphorically, as the days become longer and warmer.
Ecology
Sep 16, 2026
0
12
Washington State University researchers have discovered how a group of coronaviruses circulating in hedgehogs invades host cells, a key to understanding their potential to jump between species and their risk of causing a ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 16, 2026
0
29
Every product or service has a "carbon footprint," a measure of the environmental impact of creating or delivering it.
Agriculture
Sep 16, 2026
0
7
As Africa prepares for the arrival of a powerful El Niño weather event, an international team of researchers led by the University of Sydney and Imperial College London has found that access to improved forecasts alone will ...
Agriculture
Sep 14, 2026
0
12
An international team of scientists has recreated a 1,000-year timeline documenting ecological changes and human impact on the area surrounding Crawford Lake, the famed location of the proposed Anthropocene.
Ecology
Sep 9, 2026
0
24
Several chronic diseases—obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers—have been linked to lifestyles and diets high in calories, based on processed foods and lacking diversity and nutritional value.
Plants & Animals
Sep 8, 2026
0
11
With their slender bodies and long front legs, Miracinonyx trumani—often nicknamed the "American cheetah"—was long thought to be a North American analog of the African big cat. But in a new study published in the journal ...
Evolution
Sep 6, 2026
0
161
As populations expanded in medieval England, key changes occurred in the uses of cattle and sheep to produce food and materials, according to a study published Sept. 2, 2026, in the journal PLOS One by Matilda Holmes of the ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Sep 2, 2026
0
10
