MAMMALS OF THE WORLD:
THE EVEN-TOED UNGULATES
portal to photo discussion pages by Don Roberson
creagrus@montereybay.com
All photos taken in the wild
"Ungulates" are the large grazers and browsers of the world. They are divided taxonomically into two orders: the Perissodactyla or Odd-toed Ungulates, and the Artiodactyla, or Even-toed Ungulates. There are many even-toed ungulates in the world, including deer, antelope, bison, giraffe, pigs, camels and hippos. A number of species have been very successful, and others (cows, sheep, goats) have been widely domesticated. Yet others are shy and retiring, and a fair number of species are rare, threatened, or endangered. Altogether there are nine families of artiodactyls with 187 species in 76 genera.
Nine families of Even-toed Ungulates
PIGS & HOGS Suidae
PECCARIES Tayassuidae
HIPPOPOTAMUSES Hippopotamidae

MUSK DEER
3 secretive species in 1 genus;
none yet seen in the wild by me

CHEVROTAINS
4 secretive species in 2 genera;
2 mouse-deer seen in the wild by me
but no photos taken
CAMELS Camelidae
MUSK DEER Moschidae
CHEVROTAINS Tragulidae
DEER Cervidae
BOVIDS Bovidae [see below]
GIRAFFES Giraffidae

The Bovids are divided into six subfamilies

DUIKERS
17 secretive species in 2 genera;
1 briefly seen in the wild by me
PRONGHORN Antilocaprinae
WILD CATTLE &
SPIRAL-HORNED ANTELOPE
Bovinae [see below]
DUIKERS Cephalophinae
GRAZING ANTELOPE Hippotraginae
GAZELLES & 
DWARF ANTELOPE
Antilopinae
GOATS & SHEEP Caprinae

The Bovinae divided into 3 distinctive tribes
BOSELAPHIDS Boselaphini
WILD CATTLE Bovini
SPIRAL-HORNED ANTELOPE Strepciserotini

Click on the photos or titles to link to a page on each family, subfamily, or tribe. The taxonomy here follows Macdonald, D., ed. (1984) The Encyclopedia of Mammals, 1st ed. Facts on File Publ., New York. Other than personal experiences, the facts herein are summarized from that text.

PHOTOS & ART: All photos on this page are © 2002 Don Roberson except the Javalina © 2002 W. Ed Harper and used with permission; all rights reserved. Artwork scanned: Forest Musk Deer and Indian Spotted Chevrotain by Zillah Richards in K. K. Gurung & Raj Singh (1996) Field Guide to the Mammals of the Indian Subcontinent; Black-fronted Duiker by Rena Fennessy in J. G. Williams (1967) Field Guide to Nat'l Parks of East Africa.

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Page created 20 Jan 2002, updated 24 Feb 2002