A number of artiodactyls inhabit our Chihuahuan Desert as do wild perissodactyls. Now, artiodactyl and perissodactyl are not words most people use every day, so what am I talking about? Well, the artiodactyls often are called the split-hoofed animals, and include deer, cattle, sheep, goats, peccaries, and the like.
The common name is a misnomer, however, because the hoof isn't
split. Instead, two toes have hooves that complement one another to bear the weight on
the foot. Indeed, the name artiodactyl translates as even-numbered toes. Many also have
smaller toes that don't usually bear weight on either side of the foot--but none
has a thumb or big toe. This is in contrast to perissodactyl, which translates as
odd-numbered toes, and thus refers to such animals as horses and burros, who walk on
the tip of their middle toes or to their relatives the tapirs who have three toes.
Artiodactyls and perissodactyls have found two different ways to do the same thing—to
reduce the weight at the far end of the limbs, saving energy and increasing
speed.
Contributor: Arthur H. Harris, Laboratory for Environmental Biology, Centennial Museum, University of Texas at El Paso.
Desert Diary is a joint production of the Centennial Museum and KTEP National Public Radio at the University of Texas at El Paso.