Even-Toed Ungulates (Artiodactyla)

This group gathers Mammals subcategory members belonging to the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed hoofed mammals, whose weight rests on an even number of toes, usually two, forming a cloven hoof. It spans the cattle, sheep, goats and antelope of the family Bovidae, the true deer of the family Cervidae, the giraffe and okapi, the camels and their South American relatives the llama and alpaca, the pigs, the peccaries, the hippopotamuses, and a scattering of chevrotains and other small forest browsers. Molecular evidence has shown the whales and dolphins to be nested within this same order as its most specialized aquatic branch, but this atlas keeps the fully aquatic Cetacea in their own group below alongside the seals and sea lions, matching how a visitor searching for a land grazing animal or a marine mammal actually expects this subcategory's members to be organized.