Order
Artiodactyla (Even-toed ungulates and cetaceans)
Phocoena phocoena. Photo: (c) Ecomare/Salko de Wolf, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
The even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla, from Ancient Greek ἄρτιος (ártios), meaning ‘even’, and δάκτυλος (dáktylos), meaning ‘finger/toe’) are ungulates (hoofed quadrupeds) whose weight is borne equally by the third and fourth toes. By contrast, odd-toed ungulates, such as horses, bear their weight primarily on their third toes. The aquatic cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) evolved from within even-toed ungulates, so modern taxonomic classification sometimes combines the Artiodactyla and Cetacea into the Cetartiodactyla.
- Humboldt Life
- Kingdom: Animalia (Animals)
- Phylum: Chordata (Chordates)
- Subphylum: Vertebrata (Vertebrates)
- Class: Mammalia (Mammals)
- Subclass: Theria (Therians)
- Infraclass: Placentalia (Placental mammals)
- Superorder: Laurasiatheria (Ungulates, carnivorans, and allies)
- Order: Artiodactyla (Even-toed ungulates and cetaceans)
- Superorder: Laurasiatheria (Ungulates, carnivorans, and allies)
- Infraclass: Placentalia (Placental mammals)
- Subclass: Theria (Therians)
- Class: Mammalia (Mammals)
- Subphylum: Vertebrata (Vertebrates)
- Phylum: Chordata (Chordates)
- Kingdom: Animalia (Animals)
