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.
Biologists have long wondered why caribou are the only deer in the world in which females—like males—have antlers. A study of shed antlers collected from calving grounds in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge provides a new ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 24, 2026
0
48
Strong social networking plays an important role in human relationships. New research on female red deer shows that those bonds are also crucial for their reproductive success and survival. The study, which looked at more ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 19, 2026
0
16
Look at the armpits—or, technically, the "wingpits. That's what Scott Mehus, education director at the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, Minn., told a group of bird watchers recently as they prepared to scan the winter skies ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 17, 2026
0
166
At high densities, white-tailed deer inhibit growth of trees but increase the overall diversity of smaller plant and weed species, according to a long-term study published recently. The work is published in the journal PLOS ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 16, 2026
1
95
The Canadian government's recent approval of the first gene-edited animal to enter the food system has reignited debates over whether foods produced using genetic engineering techniques should be labeled.
Agriculture
Feb 16, 2026
0
21
In 1532, in the city of Cajamarca, Peru, Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro and a group of Europeans took the Inca ruler Atahualpa hostage, setting the stage for the fall of the Inca Empire.
Ecology
Feb 15, 2026
0
46
A camera-trap survey conducted throughout 2025 has revealed the bewildering breadth of biodiversity hidden within the Annamite Mountains, a largely unexplored forest haven stretching for 1,100 kilometers through Laos and ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 14, 2026
0
27
Researchers have successfully shown a technology developed at the University of Queensland can improve the efficacy of a chemical-free flystrike treatment for sheep. The technology, BenPol, addresses the limitations of double-stranded ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Feb 14, 2026
0
73
Gray wolves adapt their diets as a result of climate change, eating harder foods such as bones to extract nutrition during warmer climates, new research has found. The study, led by the University of Bristol in collaboration ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 13, 2026
0
33
African swine fever has been detected outside a containment zone in Spain's northeastern Catalonia region for the first time since its outbreak in November, officials said on Friday.
Veterinary medicine
Feb 13, 2026
0
35
