OK, a little history and science on the origins of the horse. Pictured below is a picture of the Hyracotherium, one of the precursors of the horse. Here's some information, courtesy of Wikipedia:
Hyracotherium averaged two feet (60-cm) in length and eight to 14-inches (20-cm) high at the shoulder and weighed about 50 pounds. It had four hoofed toes on each front foot and three hoofed toes on each hind foot. Each toe had a pad on its underside, similar to those of a dog. It had a primitive, short face with eye sockets in the middle and a short diastema (the space between the front teeth and the cheek teeth). The skull was long, having 44 low-crowned teeth. Although it had low-crowned teeth, the beginnings of the characteristic horse-like ridges on the molars can be seen. Hyracotherium is believed to have been a browsing herbivore that ate primarily soft leaves as well as some fruits and nuts and plant shoots.
4 comments:
When I was a kid, the proto-horses were the best part of science books. I wanted a pet Eohippus so badly!
lol!
i agree with funder! and if i had a jurassic park, i might skip some of the dinosaurs and clone me some prehistoric ponies!
At least they eat vegetation, unlike some of nasty critters in Juraissic Park! :-)
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