ORDER OF HOOFED ANIMALS 



( Ungulata) 



HIS order is one of the most important among animals. It includes some 

 of the largest mammals both in this country and abroad. The order is called 

 " Ungulata " from a Latin word meaning " hoofed." In this order are to 

 be found the deer, pigs, sheep, oxen, horses, elephants, etc. The Ungulates 

 are nearly all animals of good size and some of them are the largest of living 

 land mammals. They are thus characterized : the toes or digits end in hoofs, 

 and the animal walks upon the toes or is digitigrade; they lack the clavicle 

 or so called " collar bone "; a full set of milk teeth always precedes the per- 

 manent teeth; the molar teeth have ridged or tuberculated grinding surfaces. 

 This order is commonly split up into two sub-orders as follows; the odd- 

 toed Ungulates or Perissodactyla, such as the Horse and the Tapir, and the 



even-toed Ungulates or Artiodactyla, to which all the North American mammals of recent 



times belong. 



The Artiodactyla is a very large group, and besides containing all the North American 



Ungulates, claims as well nearly all those of the Old World, and the host of African Antelopes. 



VIRGINIA DEER AND FAWN 

 These beautiful animals are easily domesticated, and their breeding might become a profitable industry 



Animals of this sub-order have the first toe wanting, the second and fifth toes small, rudi- 

 mentary or absent, and carry the weight upon the third and fourth toes. Animals of this 

 type generally have extremely long feet and legs, and for this reason are fleet and graceful 

 runners. 



The hoofed animals are herbivorous — that is they eat herbs and vegetation. In the 

 Deer, Oxen and Sheep families thej^ are also ruminants, or cud-chewing. The ruminants 

 have a four-compartment stomach, regurgitate or bring up their food, and chew the 



