Evolution Of Horses Essay

Early horses evolved from tiny, four-toed, forest dwellers that were possibly no more than a foot tall roaming through the forests of North America. For more than half of their history horses remained as small forest browsers. Changes in climate conditions permitted grasslands to grow and from these changes many new species of horses evolved as well as the human animal relationship.

All mammals including horses at one point in time shared a common feature and that was five toes. “Over millions of years, many horse species lost most of their side toes. The middle toe evolved into a single large hoof, while the other toes became smaller and ultimately functionless” (American Museum of Natural History, 2008). The long legs and hooves helped horses run further and

Species: Caballus- “True Horse” (Taxonomy) The earliest known horse was the Eohippus meaning “dawn horse” or Hyrocotherium meaning “mole beast”. Mesohippus or “middle horse” was the genus between the eohippus and more "modern" horses. Pliohippus was the “grandfather” to the modern horse. “It is believed to have given rise to Hippidion and Onohippidion, genera that thrived for a time in South America, and to Dinohippus which in turn led to Equus” (Taxonomy) Horses were originally kept as a food source rather than for work or travel but as the bond between humans and horses grew, horses started being bred and became a domesticated animal and in turn bred a gentler horse. Domestic animals come from a naturally social background. “Horses are herd animals and have a hierarchical social behavior within the herd. Within this structure, there is a trusting of individual friendship” (Burrelli,