Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- An order or a suborder of ungulate or hoofed mammals which are cloven-footed or even-toed and have hoofs in pairs (either two or four), as all ruminants (Bovidœ, Cervidœ, etc.) and hog-like ungulates (Hippopotamidœ, Suidœ, etc.): opposed to odd-toed ungulates or Perissodactyla, as the horse, rhinoceros, tapir, etc.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun plural (Zoöl.) One of the divisions of the ungulate animals. The functional toes of the hind foot are even in number, and the third digit of each foot (corresponding to the middle finger in man) is asymmetrical and paired with the fourth digit, as in the hog, the sheep, and the ox; -- opposed to
Perissodactyla .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an order of hooved mammals of the subclass Eutheria (including pigs and peccaries and hippopotami and members of the suborder Ruminantia) having an even number of functional toes
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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They are still members of the order artiodactyla along with all the other kosher mammals.
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The 48 mammal species include Chacma baboon Papio cynocephalus ursinus, 5 species of carnivora including the blackbacked jackal Canis mesomelas, ardwolf Proteles cristatus and serval Felis serval, 11 species of artiodactyla and 16 species of rodentia, 11 of which last are endemic to South Africa.
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In all, 4 species of insectivora, 4 bats, 5 lagomorphs, 32 rodents, 18 carnivores, 9 artiodactyla, 5 lizards and 3 snakes are recorded in the Tuvan reserves, among them 22 locally rare species of mammal. 41 species of mammal are recorded for the Mongolian portion.
Uvs Nuur Basin, Russian Federation, Republic of Tuva and Mongolia 2008
leaden commented on the word artiodactyla
A, Yak (Bos grunniens). B, Moose (Alces malchis). C, Peccary (Dicotyles torquatus). Left fore foot of each. s, scaphoid ; l, lunar ; c, cuneiform ; t, trapezoid ; m, magnum ; u, unciform ; p, pisiform ; II, III, IV, V, second, third, fourth, and fifth digits ; 1, proximal phalanx ; 2, median phalanx ; 3, ultimate phalanx. The fifth digit of a moose is moved outward to show its length. In Bos and Alces metacarpals III and IV are fused in a single canon-bone.
Century Dictionary, Vol. I, Page 328, Artificially to Artless
This cut belongs under [Artiodactyla, as do the definitions above. I put it here because I couldn’t bear seperating them.]
October 15, 2011
MaryW commented on the word artiodactyla
Mark Essig, Lesser Beasts: A Snout-to-Tail History of the Humble Pig (New York: Basic Books, 2015), ch. 1.May 15, 2016