Posted on 06/26/2023 1:12:29 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Ancestors such as Eocene Hyracotherium exhibited foot structures resembling those of present-day tapirs, featuring four toes at the front and three at the back. Each toe was equipped with its own hoof and supported by an underlying foot pad.
In contrast, contemporary equids such as horses, asses, and zebras possess a solitary toe, which is a remnant of the original third toe on each foot. This lone toe is protected by a sturdy keratinous hoof, while the underside of the hoof features a triangular frog that functions as a shock absorber.
To unravel the mystery behind the lost digits, a team of international scientists hailing from the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Netherlands conducted a thorough analysis. They examined both hoof prints and foot bones from contemporary horses as well as fossil records...
The team's findings, which have been published today in the journal Royal Society Open Science, solidify the longstanding understanding that these toes have indeed been entirely lost during the course of evolution. This contradicts the suggestion made in a separate paper published in the same journal in 2018, which proposed that the toes might have been somehow retained within the hoof.
(Excerpt) Read more at heritagedaily.com ...
Nope, just engaging in troll behavior.
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