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Taxonomy of European Ungulates

by Mark Walker

Principles of Taxonomy

Latin names are useful because they allow biologists to be very precise about which species they are talking about, and it is used internationally, so when you mention Capra ibex, then everyone knows exactly what you are referring to. Unfortunately this useful use of latin names tends to be very off putting to the average lay-man. In this chapter I will describe the taxonomy of Ibex, which species they are related to, and which groups biologists say they are a member of. In effect we will be looking at the goat family tree. All animals are classified into certain groups, the similar members of which are re-grouped into larger groups and so on. The smallest recognised group are species. A species is a group of animals which can breed together, but who can't breed with others. Similarily related species are joined into genuses. Similar genuses are again joined into Families. Families belong to orders. Generally speaking where a species is placed depends on who it is most closely related too.

It can seem all very complicated to a beginner. So lets imagine all the animals as a large many branching tree. All the animals are together on the one tree known as the Kingdom Animalia. As you climb the tree, part way up, the trunk splits several ways. At this point each new branch is a new group known as classes. One branch contains all the reptiles, another all the marsupials. But the branch we will climb is the class mammalia. After a little way this again splits into several more branches, these are the orders. The order goats belong to is the ungulates.

A Soay Sheep

The Ungulates

The ungulates are a very diverse and successful order, containing over 200 species spread over all the continents except Australia and Antarctica. All the animals on this branch have one thing in common, they all possess hooves in one form or another. Ungulate means ‘one possessing hooves’ in Latin. The ungulates tend to have long legs, they are obviously good runners, and they tend to be alert looking with good eyesight, hearing, and a good sense of smell. However, they are very varied and range from the minuscule African dik-dik only 30cm to the high giraffe standing at over 2 metres high. The huge African elephant is here, as well as the pigs. There are two seperate groups of ungulates. The order Perrissodactyla- thoses with an odd number of toes, such as horses and rhinos. And the Artiodactyla- thoses animals with an even number of toes, such as deer and pigs. Ungulates have evolved to walk on their toes. The animals have adapted to walk with their heels off the ground, and the toes have evolved into hooves.

The ungulates evolved to do one thing well. To run. They evolved to be able to run with the minimum of effort at the maximum speeds. If we follow the ungulate branch a little higher we see it divides yet again, into two, on one side is a very large bushy section and on the other a much smaller number of twigs.  The less bushy half is the Perrisodactyl, these are ungulates which have evolved to walk only on only one digit or toe. Perrisodactly means ‘odd number of toes’. The much bussier branch is composed of the artiodactyls, or those with an even number of toes, they walk on two toes or digits. There are much fewer Perrisodactyls species than Artiodactyl, however they are easily recognised as horses, tapirs, rhinos and elephants. Artiodactyl evolution began in the early Eocene about 40 million years ago. The first Artiodactyls were small rabbit like creatures, which evoloved from an even earlier groups known as the Condylarths. The earliest known Artiodactyls is an extinct animal known as Diocodexis. Artiodactyls evolution really took off in the Miocene about 15 million years AGO. This was a time of extreme change for life on earth. The planet was undergoing climate change and the planet was becoming much drier. Since the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago until the time the planet had been mostly covered in forests. However in the Miocene these lost there stranglehold and something new was taking over their place. Grass. For the first time in the worlds history large grasslands and savannahs were appearing. Theses were a unique food source for anything that could take advantage of this fantastic opportunity. The herbivorous artiodactyls rose to the challenge and radiated and evolved into many new groups over many continents. However unlike the thick forest the open bare plians offered little protection from predators for the newly evolving ungulates. The only thing the powerless herbivores could do was to run, they evolved to outpace the predators. Any mutations which favoured faster running, such as slightly longer legs, were selected for, and genes for these traits spread. The ungulates evolved into superb running machines.

However, if we return back to our tree analogy, if we continue to climb  up the artiodactyls branch, the artiodactyls again split into different families. One branch leads to the pigs, another to the camels, one particularly thick branch is the one containing the bovid family. Lets look at these in greater detail as they play such an important part in ungulate evolution. The Bovids are one of the largest artiodactyls families containing well over a 100 species. It seems a hotch potch of cattle, antelope and sheep but they all share some important features which as led to them being grouped together. The most important of which is that all bovid males, and many of the females have horns. Horns are speciel bony structures attached to the front of the skull. At this point the artificial analogy with the tree breaks down.

The Fallow Deer, one of the Cervidae

The Cervidae and Bovidae

Most European Ungualtes belong to either the Cervidae or the Bovids. There are 38 species of deer in the Family Cervidae. They are a very succesful family widely distributed throughout the world. Deer have evolved as runners. They tend to have slight frames but long legs. The cloven hoves help facilitate fast running. They have good sences to avoid predators. All deer are ruminants. One particular feature of deer is that the males often possess antlers, which are grown from spring and are used in the rut. Unlike horns, the antlers are not permanant and are lost each year. The Bovidae family has 128 specie. The antelope, cattle and sheep belong to this family. Bovids can live in diverse habitats from flat plains to rocky mountainsides. This adaptability has made Bovids very succesful. Like deer, all Bovids are ruminants. They have highly modified teeth suited for grazing and browsing. The incisors bite the food and the molars are used for chewing. Most Bovids possess horns. Theses are never shed unlike antlers. There are 5 sub-groups of Bovids, the one most of concern for us is the subfamily Caprinae which contains the sheep and goats. Other ungulate familes include the Chevrotains, or the mouse deer. The Giraffe family Giraffidae, and the Pronghorn family with only one surving member.

Biological Taxonomy of European Ungulates Class Mammalia       Subclass Theria            Infraclass Eutheria                   Order Perrissodactyla (horses)                   Order Artiodactyla (cattle)                           Family Bovidae                                   Subfamily Caprinae                                            Ovis musimon - Mouflon                                            Rupicapra rupicapra - Chmaois                                             Capra domestis - Feral goat                             Family Suidae                                            Sus scrofa - Wild boar                            Family Cervidae                                             Alces alces - Elk                                              Cervus elaphus - Red Deer                                              Cervus nippon - Sika deer                                              Dama dama - Fallow Deer                                              Rangifer tarandus - Reindeer                                              Capreolus capreolus - Roe Deer                                             Muntiacus reevesi - Muntjac

Ungulate Taxonomy - An Overview Order Artiodactyla - even toed Suidae -                    Pigs - 8 species Tayassuidae -            Peccaries - 2 species Hippopotamidae -       Hippos - 2 species Camelidae -               Camels - 3 species Cervidae -                 Deer - 40 species Tragulidae -              Chevrotains - 4 species Bovidae -                  Cattle and antelope - 110 species Antiocapridae -          Pronghorn - 1 species Giraffidae -               Giraffe - 2 species Order Perrissodactyla Tapiridae-                 Tapirs- 4 species Rhionocerotidae -       Rhinos - 5 species Equidae -                   Horses - 6 species

The Alpine Chamois