The Equids

Book excerpt: The narrative of the progression of the ‘horse family’ through geological time, from dog-sized fruit-eating animals with four toes on their front and three toes on their hind legs, to the valiant long-legged, single-toed modern grazing horses, beloved by racing enthusiasts, is the poster child of evolution. However, like the rhinos or tapirs, the horse-like zebras, wild asses, kulans, kiangs, onagers, and the real horses are often portrayed as being past their evolutionary peak as compared to the more recently evolved ruminants (especially bovids and deer) which now dominate the grazing niche. That story of a species group over its evolutionary zenith is compelling, but anyone who has travelled in the remote savannas of Africa or the cold wild deserts of Central Asia is awed with herds of glorious animals that clearly do not ruminate. It appears as though these, so-named ‘hind-gut fermenters’, are perhaps much better adapted to these environments than one is led to believe. The purpose of this book is to dispel the myth of the inferior Equidae by describing, and investigating, the evolutionary and ecological journey of the horse family in all its glory.