PRESENTATION OUTLINE
First Horse: Eohippus
- Small dog sized
- Had 4 toes
- Remained small forest dwellers until climate changes caused grasslands to expand
Orohippus:
-Greatest evolution was the teeth; They became more pronounced suggesting they ate tougher plant material
- Slimmer features;Body,Forelimbs,Hind legs, elongated head for greater jumping ability.
- These adaptations helped the Orohippus eat more types of plants and a greater jumping ability to get away from predators
Epihippus:
- In the Mid-Eocene, about 47-Million years ago
- Increasingly efficient grinding teeth, evolved from Orohippus
- 2-Feet tall
- Slightly less developed than Oligocene Equids
- The efficient grinding teeth and short height suggest that the Epihippus was able to eat different varieties of food than the Orohippus. The short height suggests that the Epihippus was able to hide more easily in burrows and small holes from predators
Messohippus:
-In the early Oligocene, Mesohippus was one of the more widespread mammals in North America.
-It walked on three toes on each of its front and hind feet (the first and fifth toes remained, but were small and not used in walking).
-Judging by its longer and slimmer limbs, Mesohippus was an agile animal and much faster than the Epihippus
Merychippus
-a North American animal about the size of a small pony, with a prolonged skull and a facial structure resembling the horses of today.
-Its third toe was stronger and larger, and carried the main weight of the body.
-Its four premolars resembled the molar teeth and the first were small and almost nonexistent.
-It had wider molars than its predecessors, which are believed to have been used for crunching the hard grasses of the steppes.
-The hind legs, which were relatively short, had side toes equipped with small hooves, which only touched the ground when running
-
Modern Day Horse: Equus
-The genus Equus, which includes all extant equines, is believed to have evolved from Dinohippus
-larger heads and bodies with extended legs
- more larger molars
- the larger teeth and elongated bodies help the modern day horse run from predators and eat much harder grasses and grains
- average weight is 1200 Lbs
- the modern day horse is used all over the world for different sports such as; show jumping, cross country, dressage, endurance, barrel racing, pole bending, ranch work, calf roping and many more sports.
- Horse back riding is a sport
THE EVOLUTION OF THE HORSE
