Ferungulata

views updated Jun 11 2018

Ferungulata (subclass Theria, infraclass Eutheria) A cohort, proposed on palaeontological grounds but regarded by some authorities as artificial, that includes the Carnivora (all of the modern mammalian carnivores), the primitive ungulates (including the elephants and sea cows), the Perissodactyla (tapirs, rhinoceroses, horses, etc.), and the Artiodactyla (pigs, camels, cattle, etc.), which are believed to have arisen from a common population in the Palaeocene. At that time all eutherians were rather undifferentiated and it is supposed that the Ferungulata began to diverge rapidly following their break from the ancestral stock, so that today the cohort comprises 15 orders whose members are far more diversified than those of other cohorts.

Ferungulata

views updated May 08 2018

Ferungulata (class Mammalia, infraclass Eutheria) A cohort which is proposed on palaeontological grounds but regarded by some authorities as artificial, that includes the Carnivora (all of the modern mammalian carnivores), the primitive ungulates (including the elephants and sea cows), the Perissodactyla (tapirs, rhinoceroses, horses, etc.), and the Artiodactyla (pigs, camels, cattle, etc.), which are believed to have arisen from a common population in the Palaeocene.