Evolution of the horse - wikipedia Evolution of the horse This image shows a representative sequence, but should not be construed to represent a `` straight - line '' evolution of the horse. Reconstruction, left forefoot skeleton ( third digit emphasized yellow ) and longitudinal section of molars of selected prehistoric horses Skeletal evolution The evolution of the horse, a mammal of the family Equidae, occurred over a geologic time scale of 50 million years, transforming the small, dog - sized, forest - dwelling Eohippus into the modern horse. Paleozoologists have been able to piece together a more complete outline of the evolutionary lineage of the modern horse than of any other animal. Much of this evolution took place in North America, where horses originated but became extinct about 10,000 years ago. The horse belongs to the order Perissodactyla ( odd - toed ungulates ), the members of which all share hooved feet and an odd number of toes on each foot, as well as mobile upper lips and a similar tooth structure. This means that horses share a common ancestry with tapirs and rhinoceroses. The perissodactyls arose in the late Paleocene, less than 10 million years after the Cretaceous -- Paleogene extinction event. This group of animals appears to have been originally specialized for life in tropical forests, but whereas tapirs and, to some extent, rhinoceroses, retained their jungle specializations, modern horses are adapted to life on drier land, in the much harsher climatic conditions of the steppes. Other species of Equus are adapted to a variety of intermediate conditions. The early ancestors of the modern horse walked on several spread - out toes, an accommodation to life spent walking on the soft, moist grounds of primeval forests. As grass species began to appear and flourish, the equids ' diets shifted from foliage to grasses, leading to larger and more durable teeth. At the same time, as the steppes began to appear, the horse 's predecessors needed to be capable of greater speeds to outrun predators. This was attained through the lengthening of limbs and the lifting of some toes from the ground in such a way that the weight of the body was gradually placed on one of the longest toes, the third. Contents 1 History of research 2 Before odd - toed ungulates 2.1 Phenacodontidae 3 Eocene and Oligocene : early equids 3.1 Eohippus 3.2 Orohippus 3.3 Epihippus 3.4 Mesohippus 3.5 Miohippus 4 Miocene and Pliocene : true equines 4.1 Kalobatippus 4.2 Parahippus 4.3 Merychippus 4.4 Hipparion 4.5 Pliohippus 4.6 Dinohippus 4.7 Plesippus 5 Modern horses 5.1 Equus 5.2 Genome sequencing 5.3 Pleistocene extinctions 5.4 Return to the Americas 6 Details 6.1 Toes 6.2 Teeth 6.3 Coat color 7 See also 8 Further reading 9 References 10 External links History of research Extinct equids restored to scale. Left to right : Mesohippus, Neohipparion, Eohippus, Equus scotti and Hypohippus. Wild horses were known since prehistory from central Asia to Europe, with domestic horses and other equids being distributed more widely in the Old World, but no horses or equids of any type were found in the New World when European explorers reached the Americas. When the Spanish colonists brought domestic horses from Europe, beginning in 1493, escaped horses quickly established large feral herds. In the 1760s, the early naturalist Buffon suggested this was an indication of inferiority of the New World fauna, but later reconsidered this idea. William Clark 's 1807 expedition to Big Bone Lick found `` leg and foot bones of the Horses '', which were included with other fossils sent to Thomas Jefferson and evaluated by the anatomist Caspar Wistar, but neither commented on the significance of this find. The first Old World equid fossil was found in the gypsum quarries in Montmartre, Paris, in the 1820s. The tooth was sent to the Paris Conservatory, where it was identified by Georges Cuvier, who identified it as a browsing equine related to the tapir. His sketch of the entire animal matched later skeletons found at the site. During the Beagle survey expedition, the young naturalist Charles Darwin had remarkable success with fossil hunting in Patagonia. On 10 October 1833, at Santa Fe, Argentina, he was `` filled with astonishment '' when he found a horse 's tooth in the same stratum as fossil giant armadillos, and wondered if it might have been washed down from a later layer, but concluded this was `` not very probable ''. After the expedition returned in 1836, the anatomist Richard Owen confirmed the tooth was from an extinct species, which he subsequently named Equus curvidens, and remarked, `` This evidence of the former existence of a genus, which, as regards South America, had become extinct, and has a second time been introduced into that Continent, is not one of the least interesting fruits of Mr. Darwin 's palæontological discoveries. '' In 1848, a study On the fossil horses of America by Joseph Leidy systematically examined Pleistocene horse fossils from various collections, including that of the Academy of Natural Sciences, and concluded at least two ancient horse species had existed in North America : Equus curvidens and another, which he named Equus americanus. A decade later, however, he found the latter name had already been taken and renamed it Equus complicatus. In the same year, he visited Europe and was introduced by Owen to Darwin. Restoration of Eurohippus parvulus, a mid - to late Eocene equid of Europe ( Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin ) The original sequence of species believed to have evolved into the horse was based on fossils discovered in North America in the 1870s by paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh. The sequence, from Eohippus to the modern horse ( Equus ), was popularized by Thomas Huxley and became one of the most widely known examples of a clear evolutionary progression. The horse 's evolutionary lineage became a common feature of biology textbooks, and the sequence of transitional fossils was assembled by the American Museum of Natural History into an exhibit that emphasized the gradual, `` straight - line '' evolution of the horse. Since then, as the number of equid fossils has increased, the actual evolutionary progression from Eohippus to Equus has been discovered to be much more complex and multibranched than was initially supposed. The straight, direct progression from the former to the latter has been replaced by a more elaborate model with numerous branches in different directions, of which the modern horse is only one of many. George Gaylord Simpson in 1951 first recognized that the modern horse was not the `` goal '' of the entire lineage of equids, but is simply the only genus of the many horse lineages to survive. Detailed fossil information on the distribution and rate of change of new equid species has also revealed that the progression between species was not as smooth and consistent as was once believed. Although some transitions, such as that of Dinohippus to Equus, were indeed gradual progressions, a number of others, such as that of Epihippus to Mesohippus, were relatively abrupt in geologic time, taking place over only a few million years. Both anagenesis ( gradual change in an entire population 's gene frequency ) and cladogenesis ( a population `` splitting '' into two distinct evolutionary branches ) occurred, and many species coexisted with `` ancestor '' species at various times. The change in equids ' traits was also not always a `` straight line '' from Eohippus to Equus : some traits reversed themselves at various points in the evolution of new equid species, such as size and the presence of facial fossae, and only in retrospect can certain evolutionary trends be recognized. Before odd - toed ungulates Phenacodontidae Restoration of Phenacodus Phenacodontidae is the most recent family in the order Condylarthra believed to be the ancestral to the odd - toed ungulates. It contains the genera Almogaver, Copecion, Ectocion, Eodesmatodon, Meniscotherium, Ordathspidotherium, Phenacodus and Pleuraspidotherium. The family lived from the Early Paleocene to the Middle Eocene in Europe and were about the size of a sheep, with tails making slightly less than half of the length of their bodies and unlike their ancestors, good running skills for eluding predators. Eocene and Oligocene : early equids Eohippus Main article : Eohippus Eohippus appeared in the Ypresian ( early Eocene ), about 52 mya ( million years ago ). It was an animal approximately the size of a fox ( 250 -- 450 mm in height ), with a relatively short head and neck and a springy, arched back. It had 44 low - crowned teeth, in the typical arrangement of an omnivorous, browsing mammal : three incisors, one canine, four premolars, and three molars on each side of the jaw. Its molars were uneven, dull, and bumpy, and used primarily for grinding foliage. The cusps of the molars were slightly connected in low crests. Eohippus browsed on soft foliage and fruit, probably scampering between thickets in the mode of a modern muntjac. It had a small brain, and possessed especially small frontal lobes. Eohippus, with left forefoot ( third metacarpal colored ) and tooth ( a enamel ; b dentin ; c cement ) detailed Its limbs were long relative to its body, already showing the beginnings of adaptations for running. However, all of the major leg bones were unfused, leaving the legs flexible and rotatable. Its wrist and hock joints were low to the ground. The forelimbs had developed five toes, of which four were equipped with small proto - hooves ; the large fifth `` toe - thumb '' was off the ground. The hind limbs had small hooves on three out of the five toes, while the vestigial first and fifth toes did not touch the ground. Its feet were padded, much like a dog 's, but with the small hooves in place of claws. For a span of about 20 million years, Eohippus thrived with few significant evolutionary changes. The most significant change was in the teeth, which began to adapt to its changing diet, as these early Equidae shifted from a mixed diet of fruits and foliage to one focused increasingly on browsing foods. During the Eocene, an Eohippus species ( most likely Eohippus angustidens ) branched out into various new types of Equidae. Thousands of complete, fossilized skeletons of these animals have been found in the Eocene layers of North American strata, mainly in the Wind River basin in Wyoming. Similar fossils have also been discovered in Europe, such as Propalaeotherium ( which is not considered ancestral to the modern horse ). Orohippus Approximately 50 million years ago, in the early - to - middle Eocene, Eohippus smoothly transitioned into Orohippus through a gradual series of changes. Although its name means `` mountain horse '', Orohippus was not a true horse and did not live in the mountains. It resembled Eohippus in size, but had a slimmer body, an elongated head, slimmer forelimbs, and longer hind legs, all of which are characteristics of a good jumper. Although Orohippus was still pad - footed, the vestigial outer toes of Eohippus were not present in Orohippus ; there were four toes on each fore leg, and three on each hind leg. The most dramatic change between Eohippus and Orohippus was in the teeth : the first of the premolar teeth were dwarfed, the last premolar shifted in shape and function into a molar, and the crests on the teeth became more pronounced. Both of these factors gave the teeth of Orohippus greater grinding ability, suggesting Orohippus ate tougher plant material. Epihippus In the mid-Eocene, about 47 million years ago, Epihippus, a genus which continued the evolutionary trend of increasingly efficient grinding teeth, evolved from Orohippus. Epihippus had five grinding, low - crowned cheek teeth with well - formed crests. A late species of Epihippus, sometimes referred to as Duchesnehippus intermedius, had teeth similar to Oligocene equids, although slightly less developed. Whether Duchesnehippus was a subgenus of Epihippus or a distinct genus is disputed. Epihippus was only 2 feet tall. Mesohippus In the late Eocene and the early stages of the Oligocene epoch ( 32 -- 24 mya ), the climate of North America became drier, and the earliest grasses began to evolve. The forests were yielding to flatlands, home to grasses and various kinds of brush. In a few areas, these plains were covered in sand, creating the type of environment resembling the present - day prairies. Restoration of Mesohippus In response to the changing environment, the then - living species of Equidae also began to change. In the late Eocene, they began developing tougher teeth and becoming slightly larger and leggier, allowing for faster running speeds in open areas, and thus for evading predators in nonwooded areas. About 40 mya, Mesohippus ( `` middle horse '' ) suddenly developed in response to strong new selective pressures to adapt, beginning with the species Mesohippus celer and soon followed by Mesohippus westoni. In the early Oligocene, Mesohippus was one of the more widespread mammals in North America. It walked on three toes on each of its front and hind feet ( the first and fifth toes remained, but were small and not used in walking ). The third toe was stronger than the outer ones, and thus more weighted ; the fourth front toe was diminished to a vestigial nub. Judging by its longer and slimmer limbs, Mesohippus was an agile animal. Mesohippus was slightly larger than Epihippus, about 610 mm ( 24 in ) at the shoulder. Its back was less arched, and its face, snout, and neck were somewhat longer. It had significantly larger cerebral hemispheres, and had a small, shallow depression on its skull called a fossa, which in modern horses is quite detailed. The fossa serves as a useful marker for identifying an equine fossil 's species. Mesohippus had six grinding `` cheek teeth '', with a single premolar in front -- a trait all descendant Equidae would retain. Mesohippus also had the sharp tooth crests of Epihippus, improving its ability to grind down tough vegetation. Miohippus Around 36 million years ago, soon after the development of Mesohippus, Miohippus ( `` lesser horse '' ) emerged, the earliest species being Miohippus assiniboiensis. As with Mesohippus, the appearance of Miohippus was relatively abrupt, though a few transitional fossils linking the two genera have been found. Mesohippus was once believed to have anagenetically evolved into Miohippus by a gradual series of progressions, but new evidence has shown its evolution was cladogenetic : a Miohippus population split off from the main genus Mesohippus, coexisted with Mesohippus for around four million years, and then over time came to replace Mesohippus. Miohippus was significantly larger than its predecessors, and its ankle joints had subtly changed. Its facial fossa was larger and deeper, and it also began to show a variable extra crest in its upper cheek teeth, a trait that became a characteristic feature of equine teeth. Miohippus ushered in a major new period of diversification in Equidae. While Mesohippus died out in the mid-Oligocene, Miohippus continued to thrive, and in the early Miocene ( 24 -- 5.3 mya ), it began to rapidly diversify and speciate. It branched out into two major groups, one of which adjusted to the life in forests once again, while the other remained suited to life on the prairies. Miocene and Pliocene : true equines Kalobatippus Fossil Megahippus mckennai The forest - suited form was Kalobatippus ( or Miohippus intermedius, depending on whether it was a new genus or species ), whose second and fourth front toes were long, well - suited travel on the soft forest floors. Kalobatippus probably gave rise to Anchitherium, which travelled to Asia via the Bering Strait land bridge, and from there to Europe. In both North America and Eurasia, larger - bodied genera evolved from Anchitherium : Sinohippus in Eurasia and Hypohippus and Megahippus in North America. Hypohippus became extinct by the late Miocene. Parahippus The Miohippus population that remained on the steppes is believed to be ancestral to Parahippus, a North American animal about the size of a small pony, with a prolonged skull and a facial structure resembling the horses of today. Its third toe was stronger and larger, and carried the main weight of the body. Its four premolars resembled the molar teeth ; the first were small and almost nonexistent. The incisor teeth, like those of its predecessors, had a crown ( like human incisors ) ; however, the top incisors had a trace of a shallow crease marking the beginning of the core / cup. Merychippus Merychippus, an effective grazer and runner In the middle of the Miocene epoch, the grazer Merychippus flourished. It had wider molars than its predecessors, which are believed to have been used for crunching the hard grasses of the steppes. The hind legs, which were relatively short, had side toes equipped with small hooves, but they probably only touched the ground when running. Merychippus radiated into at least 19 additional grassland species. Hipparion Protohippus simus Three lineages within Equidae are believed to be descended from the numerous varieties of Merychippus : Hipparion, Protohippus and Pliohippus. The most different from Merychippus was Hipparion, mainly in the structure of tooth enamel : in comparison with other Equidae, the inside, or tongue side, had a completely isolated parapet. A complete and well - preserved skeleton of the North American Hipparion shows an animal the size of a small pony. They were very slim, rather like antelopes, and were adapted to life on dry prairies. On its slim legs, Hipparion had three toes equipped with small hooves, but the side toes did not touch the ground. In North America, Hipparion and its relatives ( Cormohipparion, Nannippus, Neohipparion, and Pseudhipparion ), proliferated into many kinds of equids, at least one of which managed to migrate to Asia and Europe during the Miocene epoch. ( European Hipparion differs from American Hipparion in its smaller body size -- the best - known discovery of these fossils was near Athens. ) Pliohippus Pliohippus pernix Pliohippus arose from Callippus in the middle Miocene, around 12 mya. It was very similar in appearance to Equus, though it had two long extra toes on both sides of the hoof, externally barely visible as callused stubs. The long and slim limbs of Pliohippus reveal a quick - footed steppe animal. Until recently, Pliohippus was believed to be the ancestor of present - day horses because of its many anatomical similarities. However, though Pliohippus was clearly a close relative of Equus, its skull had deep facial fossae, whereas Equus had no fossae at all. Additionally, its teeth were strongly curved, unlike the very straight teeth of modern horses. Consequently, it is unlikely to be the ancestor of the modern horse ; instead, it is a likely candidate for the ancestor of Astrohippus. Dinohippus Dinohippus was the most common species of Equidae in North America during the late Pliocene. It was originally thought to be monodactyl, but a 1981 fossil find in Nebraska shows some were tridactyl. Plesippus Mounted skeleton of Hagerman horse ( Equus simplicidens ) Plesippus is often considered an intermediate stage between Dinohippus and the extant genus, Equus. The famous fossils found near Hagerman, Idaho were originally thought to be a part of the genus Plesippus. Hagerman Fossil Beds ( Idaho ) is a Pliocene site, dating to about 3.5 mya. The fossilized remains were originally called Plesippus shoshonensis, but further study by paleontologists determined the fossils represented the oldest remains of the genus Equus. Their estimated average weight was 425 kg, roughly the size of an Arabian horse. At the end of the Pliocene, the climate in North America began to cool significantly and most of the animals were forced to move south. One population of Plesippus moved across the Bering land bridge into Eurasia around 2.5 mya. Modern horses Equus Main article : Equus ( genus ) Skull of a giant extinct horse, Equus eisenmannae The genus Equus, which includes all extant equines, is believed to have evolved from Dinohippus, via the intermediate form Plesippus. One of the oldest species is Equus simplicidens, described as zebra - like with a donkey - shaped head. The oldest fossil to date is ~ 3.5 million years old from Idaho, USA. The genus appears to have spread quickly into the Old World, with the similarly aged Equus livenzovensis documented from western Europe and Russia. Molecular phylogenies indicate the most recent common ancestor of all modern equids ( members of the genus Equus ) lived ~ 5.6 ( 3.9 -- 7.8 ) mya. Direct paleogenomic sequencing of a 700,000 - year - old middle Pleistocene horse metapodial bone from Canada implies a more recent 4.07 Myr before present date for the most recent common ancestor ( MRCA ) within the range of 4.0 to 4.5 Myr BP. The oldest divergencies are the Asian hemiones ( subgenus E. ( Asinus ), including the kulan, onager, and kiang ), followed by the African zebras ( subgenera E. ( Dolichohippus ), and E. ( Hippotigris ) ). All other modern forms including the domesticated horse ( and many fossil Pliocene and Pleistocene forms ) belong to the subgenus E. ( Equus ) which diverged ~ 4.8 ( 3.2 -- 6.5 ) million years ago. Pleistocene horse fossils have been assigned to a multitude of species, with over 50 species of equines described from the Pleistocene of North America alone, although the taxonomic validity of most of these has been called into question. Recent genetic work on fossils has found evidence for only three genetically divergent equid lineages in Pleistocene North and South America. These results suggest all North American fossils of caballine - type horses ( which also include the domesticated horse and Przewalski 's horse of Europe and Asia ), as well as South American fossils traditionally placed in the subgenus E. ( Amerhippus ) belong to the same species : E. ferus. Remains attributed to a variety of species and lumped as New World stilt - legged horses ( including E. francisci, E. tau, E. quinni and potentially North American Pleistocene fossils previously attributed to E. cf. hemiones, and E. ( Asinus ) cf. kiang ) probably all belong to a second species endemic to North America, which despite a superficial resemblance to species in the subgenus E. ( Asinus ) ( and hence occasionally referred to as North American ass ) is closely related to E. ferus. Surprisingly, the third species, endemic to South America and traditionally referred to as Hippidion, originally believed to be descended from Pliohippus, was shown to be a third species in the genus Equus, closely related to the New World stilt - legged horse. The temporal and regional variation in body size and morphological features within each lineage indicates extraordinary intraspecific plasticity. Such environment - driven adaptative changes would explain why the taxonomic diversity of Pleistocene equids has been overestimated on morphoanatomical grounds. According to these results, it appears the genus Equus evolved from a Dinohippus - like ancestor ~ 4 -- 7 mya. It rapidly spread into the Old World and there diversified into the various species of asses and zebras. A North American lineage of the subgenus E. ( Equus ) evolved into the New World stilt - legged horse ( NWSLH ). Subsequently, populations of this species entered South America as part of the Great American Interchange shortly after the formation of the Isthmus of Panama, and evolved into the form currently referred to as Hippidion ~ 2.5 million years ago. Hippidion is thus only distantly related to the morphologically similar Pliohippus, which presumably became extinct during the Miocene. Both the NWSLH and Hippidium show adaptations to dry, barren ground, whereas the shortened legs of Hippidion may have been a response to sloped terrain. In contrast, the geographic origin of the closely related modern E. ferus is not resolved. However, genetic results on extant and fossil material of Pleistocene age indicate two clades, potentially subspecies, one of which had a holarctic distribution spanning from Europe through Asia and across North America and would become the founding stock of the modern domesticated horse. The other population appears to have been restricted to North America. However, one or more North American populations of E. ferus entered South America ~ 1.0 -- 1.5 million years ago, leading to the forms currently known as E. ( Amerhippus ), which represent an extinct geographic variant or race of E. ferus. Genome sequencing In June 2013, a group of researchers announced that they had sequenced the DNA of a 560 -- 780 thousand year old horse, using material extracted from a leg bone found buried in permafrost in Canada 's Yukon territory. Prior to this publication, the oldest nuclear genome that had been successfully sequenced was dated at 110 -- 130 thousand years ago. For comparison, the researchers also sequenced the genomes of a 43,000 - year - old Pleistocene horse, a Przewalski 's horse, five modern horse breeds, and a donkey. Analysis of differences between these genomes indicated that the last common ancestor of modern horses, donkeys, and zebras existed 4 to 4.5 million years ago. The results also indicated that Przewalski 's horse diverged from other modern types of horse about 43,000 years ago, and had never in its evolutionary history been domesticated. Pleistocene extinctions Digs in western Canada have unearthed clear evidence horses existed in North America until about 12,000 years ago. However, all Equidae in North America ultimately became extinct. The causes of this extinction ( simultaneous with the extinctions of a variety of other American megafauna ) have been a matter of debate. Given the suddenness of the event and because these mammals had been flourishing for millions of years previously, something quite unusual must have happened. The first main hypothesis attributes extinction to climate change. For example, in Alaska, beginning approximately 12,500 years ago, the grasses characteristic of a steppe ecosystem gave way to shrub tundra, which was covered with unpalatable plants. The other hypothesis suggests extinction was linked to overexploitation by newly arrived humans of naive prey that were not habituated to their hunting methods. The extinctions were roughly simultaneous with the end of the most recent glacial advance and the appearance of the big game - hunting Clovis culture. Several studies have indicated humans probably arrived in Alaska at the same time or shortly before the local extinction of horses. Additionally, it has been proposed that the steppe - tundra vegetation transition in Beringia may have been a consequence, rather than a cause, of the extinction of megafaunal grazers. In Eurasia, horse fossils began occurring frequently again in archaeological sites in Kazakhstan and the southern Ukraine about 6,000 years ago. From then on, domesticated horses, as well as the knowledge of capturing, taming, and rearing horses, probably spread relatively quickly, with wild mares from several wild populations being incorporated en route. Return to the Americas Horses only returned to the Americas with Christopher Columbus in 1493. These were Iberian horses first brought to Hispaniola and later to Panama, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, and, in 1538, Florida. The first horses to return to the main continent were 16 specifically identified horses brought by Hernán Cortés. Subsequent explorers, such as Coronado and De Soto, brought ever - larger numbers, some from Spain and others from breeding establishments set up by the Spanish in the Caribbean. Later, as Spanish missions were founded on the mainland, horses would eventually be lost or stolen, and proliferated into large herds of feral horses that became known as mustangs. The indigenous peoples of the Americas did not have a specific word for horses, and came to refer to them in various languages as a type of dog or deer ( in one case, `` elk - dog '', in other cases `` big dog '' or `` seven dogs '', referring to the weight each animal could pull ). Details Toes The ancestors of the horse came to walk only on the end of the third toe and both side toes. Skeletal remnants show obvious wear on the back of both sides of metacarpal and metatarsal bones, commonly called the `` splint bones ''. They are the remnants of the second and the fourth toe. Modern horses retain the splint bones ; they are often believed to be useless attachments, but they in fact play an important role in supporting the carpal joints ( front knees ) and even the tarsal joints ( hocks ). See also : Limbs of the horse Teeth Throughout the phylogenetic development, the teeth of the horse underwent significant changes. The type of the original omnivorous teeth with short, `` bumpy '' molars, with which the prime members of the evolutionary line distinguished themselves, gradually changed into the teeth common to herbivorous mammals. They became long ( as much as 100 mm ), roughly cubical molars equipped with flat grinding surfaces. In conjunction with the teeth, during the horse 's evolution, the elongation of the facial part of the skull is apparent, and can also be observed in the backward - set eyeholes. In addition, the relatively short neck of the equine ancestors became longer, with equal elongation of the legs. Finally, the size of the body grew as well. Further information : Horse teeth Coat color Reconstruction of possible ancestral coat colors The ancestral coat color of E. ferus was possible a uniform dun, consistent with modern populations of Przewalski 's horses. Pre-domestication variants including black and spotted have been inferred from cave wall paintings and confirmed by genomic analysis. Domestication may have also led to more varieties of coat colors. Further information : Equine coat color See also Evidence of common descent Horses portal Paleontology portal Prehistoric mammals portal Further reading MacFadden, Bruce J ( 1994 ). Fossil Horses : Systematics, Paleobiology, and Evolution of the Family Equidae. Cambridge & New York : Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0 - 521 - 47708 - 5. Retrieved 6 June 2010. References Jump up ^ Legendre, Serge ( 1989 ). Les communautés de mammifères du Paléogène ( Eocène supérieur et Oligocène ) d'Europe occidentale : structures, milieux et évolution. München : F. Pfeil. p. 110. ISBN 978 - 3 - 923871 - 35 - 3. Jump up ^ Singer, Ben ( May 2005 ). A brief history of the horse in America. Canadian Geographic Magazine. Archived from the original on 2012 - 01 - 07. Retrieved 22 December 2017. ^ Jump up to : `` Ancient American Horses ''. Joseph Leidy Online Exhibit. Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. Archived from the original on 2012 - 03 - 05. Retrieved 2015 - 09 - 20. ^ Jump up to : `` Ancient Horse ( Equus cf. E. complicatus ) ''. Academy of Natural Sciences. Archived from the original on 2008 - 08 - 29. Retrieved 2018 - 01 - 26. Jump up ^ James Warren Evans ( 1992 ). Horse breeding and management. Jump up ^ Knell, Simon J. ; Suzanne Macleod ; Sheila E.R. Watson ( 2007 ). Museum revolutions : how museums and change and are changed. Routledge. ISBN 978 - 0 - 415 - 44467 - 5. Jump up ^ ' Filled with astonishment ' : an introduction to the St. Fe Notebook, Barlow, Nora ( ed. 1945 ) Charles Darwin and the voyage of the Beagle. London : Pilot Press, p. 210 Jump up ^ Darwin, C.R. ( ed. 1840 ). Fossil Mammalia Part 1 No. 4 of The zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle. By Richard Owen. London : Smith Elder and Co. p. 108 -- 109 Jump up ^ Academy of Natural Sciences - Joseph Leidy - Leidy and Darwin Jump up ^ Simpson, George Gaylord ( 1951 ) : Horses. Oxford University Press ; New Impression edition. ISBN 0 - 19 - 500104 - 4 ( 1971 reprint ) Jump up ^ The notion of a goal would contradict modern evolutionary synthesis, ^ Jump up to : Hunt, Kathleen ( 1995 ). `` Horse Evolution ''. TalkOrigins Archive. Retrieved 2018 - 01 - 26. See also downloadable pdf version ) Jump up ^ MacFadden, B.J. ( March 18, 2005 ). `` Fossil Horses -- Evidence for Evolution ''. Science. 307 ( 5716 ) : 1728 -- 1730. doi : 10.1126 / science. 1105458. 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Retrieved July 11, 2007. : An excerpted collection of images of horse fossils Evolution of Horses Equine Equine science and management Equine anatomy Equine nutrition Horse behavior Horse care Horse breeding Horse genome Equine conformation Equine coat color Horse gait Equestrianism and sport Glossary of equestrian terms Horse industry List of equestrian sports Horse tack Bit Bridle Saddle Harness English riding Western riding Driving Horse training Horse racing Equestrian at the Summer Olympics ( medalists, venues ) Horse show Equitation Evolution and history Domestication of the horse Horses in warfare Horses in the Middle Ages Horses in the United States Horses in East Asian warfare History of the horse in South Asia Horses in the Napoleonic Wars Horses in World War I Horses in World War II History of the horse in Britain Horse worship Horse burial Horse breeds, types and other Equidae Horses List of horse breeds Draft horse Feral horse Gaited horse Mountain and moorland pony breeds Sport horse Stock horse Warmblood Wild horse Other Equus List of donkey breeds Donkey Zebra Onager Hybrids Hinny Mule Zebroid Category Horses portal Genera of extinct Equidae ( Horse family ), arranged by subfamily Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class Mammalia Infraclass Eutheria Superorder Laurasiatheria Order Perissodactyla Basal forms Epihippus Eohippus Eurohippus Haplohippus Heptaconodon Pliolophus Propalaeotherium Protorohippus Orohippus Sifrhippus Xenicohippus Anchitheriinae Anchitherium Archaeohippus Desmatippus Hypohippus Kalobatippus Megahippus Mesohippus Miohippus Parahippus Sinohippus Equinae Acritohippus Merychippus Tribe Hipparionini : Cremohipparion Cormohipparion Eurygnathohippus Hipparion Hippotherium Nannippus Neohipparion Proboscidipparion Pseudhipparion Sivalhippus Tribe Equini : Astrohippus Calippus Dinohippus Equus Haringtonhippus Heteropliohippus Hippidion Onohippidium Parapliohippus Pliohippus Protohippus Species of the genus Equus Extinct species are marked † Asses African wild ass ( Equus africanus ) Nubian wild ass ( Equus africanus africanus ) Donkey ( Equus africanus asinus ) † Atlas wild ass ( Equus africanus atlanticus ) Somali wild ass ( Equus africanus somaliensis ) Onager / Asiatic wild ass ( Equus hemionus ) Mongolian wild ass ( Equus hemionus hemionus ) † Syrian wild ass ( Equus hemionus hemippus ) Indian wild ass ( Equus hemionus khur ) Turkmenian kulan ( Equus hemionus kulan ) Persian onager ( Equus hemionus onager ) † European wild ass ( Equus hydruntinus ) Kiang / Tibetan wild ass ( Equus kiang ) Western kiang ( Equus kiang kiang ) Eastern kiang ( Equus kiang holdereri ) Southern kiang ( Equus kiang polyodon ) Zebras Plains zebra ( Equus quagga ) † Quagga ( Equus quagga quagga ) Burchell 's zebra ( Equus quagga burchellii ) Grant 's zebra ( Equus quagga boehmi ) Maneless zebra ( Equus quagga borensis ) Chapman 's zebra ( Equus quagga chapmani ) Crawshay 's zebra ( Equus quagga crawshayi ) Selous ' zebra ( Equus quagga selousi ) Mountain zebra ( Equus zebra ) Cape mountain zebra ( Equus zebra zebra ) Hartmann 's mountain zebra ( Equus zebra hartmannae ) Grévy 's zebra ( Equus grevy ) Grévy 's zebra ( Equus grevy ) Prehistoric zebras † Stenon zebra ( Equus stenonis ) † Hagerman zebra ( Equus simplicidens ) Horses Wild horse ( Equus ferus ) Horse ( Equus ferus caballus ) † Tarpan ( Equus ferus ferus ) Przewalski 's horse ( Equus ferus przewalskii ) Prehistoric horses † Equus alaskae † Equus andium † Equus cedralensis † Equus complicatus † Equus conversidens † Equus crinidens † Equus cumminsii † Equus excelsus † Equus fraternus † Equus giganteus † Equus lambei † Equus mexicanus † Equus namadicus † Equus niobrarensis † Equus occidentalis † Equus pacificus † Equus parastylidens † Equus pectinatus † Equus semiplicatus † Equus scotti † Equus sivalensis † Equus yunnanensis Equidae Evolution of the horse Wild horse Domestication of the horse Evolutionary biology Evolutionary history of life Index of evolutionary biology articles Introduction Outline of evolution Timeline of evolution Evolution Abiogenesis Adaptation Adaptive radiation Cladistics Coevolution Common descent Convergence Divergence Earliest known life forms Evidence of common descent Extinction Event Gene - centered view Homology Last universal common ancestor Macroevolution Microevolution Origin of life Panspermia Parallel evolution Prehistoric Autopsy Speciation Taxonomy Population genetics Biodiversity Gene flow Genetic drift Mutation Natural selection Variation Development Canalisation Evolutionary developmental biology Inversion Modularity Phenotypic plasticity Of taxa Birds origin Brachiopods Molluscs Cephalopods Dinosaurs Fish Fungi Insects butterflies Life Mammals cats canids wolves dogs hyenas dolphins and whales horses primates humans lemurs sea cows Plants Reptiles Spiders Tetrapods Viruses influenza Of organs Cell DNA Flagella Eukaryotes symbiogenesis chromosome endomembrane system mitochondria nucleus plastids In animals eye hair auditory ossicle nervous system brain Of processes Aging Death Programmed cell death Avian flight Biological complexity Cooperation Color vision in primates Emotion Empathy Ethics Eusociality Immune system Metabolism Monogamy Morality Mosaic evolution Multicellularity Sexual reproduction Gamete differentiation / sexes Life cycles / nuclear phases Mating types Sex - determination Snake venom Tempo and modes Gradualism / Punctuated equilibrium / Saltationism Micromutation / Macromutation Uniformitarianism / Catastrophism Speciation Allopatric Anagenesis Catagenesis Cladogenesis Cospeciation Ecological Hybrid Parapatric Peripatric Reinforcement Sympatric History Renaissance and Enlightenment Transmutation of species Charles Darwin On the Origin of Species History of paleontology Transitional fossil Blending inheritance Mendelian inheritance The eclipse of Darwinism Modern synthesis History of molecular evolution Extended evolutionary synthesis Philosophy Darwinism Alternatives Catastrophism Lamarckism Orthogenesis Mutationism Saltationism Structuralism Spandrel Theistic Vitalism Teleology in biology Related Biogeography Ecological genetics Molecular evolution Phylogenetics Tree Polymorphism Protocell Systematics Category Commons Portal WikiProject Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Evolution_of_the_horse&oldid=837772378 '' Categories : Cenozoic mammals Cenozoic events Horse history and evolution Hidden categories : All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from September 2015 Articles with unsourced statements from December 2013 Articles with unsourced statements from December 2011 Articles with unsourced statements from November 2013 Articles with unsourced statements from January 2009 Articles with unsourced statements from October 2010 Articles with unsourced statements from February 2007 Articles with unsourced statements from March 2009 Articles with unsourced statements from February 2018 Articles with unsourced statements from October 2012 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Català Dansk Español Français Bahasa Indonesia Italiano Magyar 日本 語 Polski Português Русский Slovenščina Suomi Svenska Tiếng Việt 6 more Edit links This page was last edited on 22 April 2018, at 23 : 28. 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Question: when did equus first appear in fossil record
Answer: 1820s; about 3.5 mya; ~3.5 million years old