Artiodactyl "success" Over Perissodactyls In The Late Palaeogene Unlikely To Be Related To The Carotid Rete

Main Category: Biology / Biochemistry
Article Date: 08 Oct 2008 - 6:00 PDT

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The familiar story of the "evolutionary success" of artiodactyls (pigs, camels, deer, antelope, etc.) over perissodactyls (horses, rhinos, etc.) is somewhat of a misnomer.

In any event, it is unlikely that the possession of a carotid rete by artiodactyls contributed to their relatively greater diversification than perissodactyls following the late Eocene extinctions.

The types of extreme environments in which the rete may offer an advantage to today's artiodactyls did not exist until very recently, and the evolutionary patterns are better explained by differences in digestive physiology.

Royal Society journal Biology Letters

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Biology Letters