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To address this problem, the traditional order Artiodactyla and infraorder Cetacea are sometimes subsumed into the more inclusive Cetartiodactyla taxon. [5] An alternative approach is to include both land-dwelling even-toed ungulates and ocean-dwelling cetaceans in a revised Artiodactyla taxon. [4]
Members of this order are called artiodactyls. The order is sometimes named Cetartiodactyla, in reference to the inclusion of cetaceans in the order beginning in the 1990s. [1] Artiodactyla currently comprises 349 extant species, which are grouped into 132 genera. Artiodactyls live on every major landmass and throughout the oceans and in a ...
The evolution of cetaceans is thought to have begun in the Indian subcontinent from even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla) 50 million years ago (mya) and to have proceeded over a period of at least 15 million years. [2] Cetaceans are fully aquatic mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla and branched off from other artiodactyls around 50 mya.
Cetaceans are deeply nested within the artiodactyls; the two groups together form a clade, a natural group with a common ancestor, for which the name Cetartiodactyla is sometimes used. Modern nomenclature divides Artiodactyla (or Cetartiodactyla) into four subordinate taxa: camelids (Tylopoda), pigs and peccaries (Suina), ruminants (Ruminantia ...
Cetartiodactyla is a large order of hoofed mammals, the even-toed ungulates, and aquatic mammals, cetaceans. Cetacea was found to be nested within "Artiodactlya" and has now been moved into that order, whose name is now Cetartiodactyla. [2] Even-toed ungulates are found nearly world-wide, although no species are native to Australia or Antarctica.
The two extant orders of ungulates are the Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates) and Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates). Hyracoidea (hyraxes) , Sirenia (sea cows, dugongs and manatees) and Proboscidea (elephants) were in the past grouped within the clade "Ungulata", later found to be a polyphyletic and now invalid clade.
Cetaceans and artiodactyls now are classified under the order Cetartiodactyla, often still referred to as Artiodactyla, which includes both whales and hippopotamuses. The hippopotamus and pygmy hippopotamus are the whales' closest terrestrial living relatives. [11]
Porpoises, and other cetaceans, belong to the clade Cetartiodactyla with even-toed ungulates. Porpoises range in size from the vaquita, at 1.4 metres (4 feet 7 inches) in length and 54 kilograms (119 pounds) in weight, to the Dall's porpoise, at 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in) and 220 kg (490 lb).