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Which animals belong to the mammal order Artiodactyla?
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artiodactyl
Reticulated giraffe (Giraffa reticulata), Kenya.
The mammal order Artiodactyla, commonly known as even-toed ungulates, consists of animals characterized by having their main weight-bearing axis pass through the third and fourth toes.12
The order includes the following groups of living animals:
- Pigs
- Peccaries
- Hippopotamuses
- Camels
- Chevrotains
- Deer
- Giraffes
- Pronghorn
- Bovids (including antelopes, sheep, goats, and cattle)13
Artiodactyls are distinguished from the other major order of herbivorous mammals, the perissodactyls (which include horses, tapirs, and rhinoceroses), by their unique limb structure and the specific articulation of the astragalus in the ankle. The order contains approximately 200 species, though this number is subject to change as biological classification continues to be revised.241