The evolution of horses is well traced by fossils, which show how a small, dog-sized, forest animal,

having had fingers instead of hooves, has turned into large ungulates of open spaces over 50 million
years. The main speciation took place within North America, from where the natural bridge existed to
penetrate Eurasia, when it was possible in the absence of the Bering Strait and before the formation of a
powerful ice sheet. In North America, horses died out a few thousand years ago, before the
representatives of the domestic horse and donkey species were imported again during European
colonization in the 16th century. The wild populations of imported horses became known as mustangs.
A similar process took place also in Australia, in which previously there had never been representatives
of the horse family.

The evolution of horses began in the Eocene, about 55 million years ago. At that time there was a
gyracottery - the ancestor of all current horses, a small animal with a height of only 20 cm at the
shoulders, chewing leaves and fruits with its small teeth. He lived in the woods. Giracotherium did not
resemble today's horses. This animal had a curved back, short neck and muzzle, short legs and a long
tail. His gait was like a dog, but he already had small hooves. The skull and brain volume were relatively
small. Had 18 pairs of ribs. On the front paws were four fingers, on the back - three. Each finger had a
claw or hoof. Teeth small, with low crowns. Had 3 incisors, 1 canine, 4 premolars and 3 molars on each
side of the upper and lower jaw. It is possible that a camouflage color helped him escape from
predators.

Orohippus

About 50 million years ago, the genus Orohippus ( Orohippus ) was distinguished from gyracterias. First
of all, the limbs changed (hoofs appeared, the bones of the middle fingers developed) and teeth (they
had 3 premolars and 4 molars), orohippus preferred more solid vegetable food. Had 15 pairs of ribs, a
small mane. Tails, overgrown with sparse hair, fluttered in the air.

Epihippus

Three million years later, the orogippus evolved into a new genus, Epihippus (epigippus). Had 2
premolars and 5 molars.

Meanwhile, the climate has changed significantly, in North America it has become drier, forests have
shrunk, giving way to open savannas . This was a key event in the evolution of horses, as they were
forced to adapt to new conditions. They became larger, which allowed them to move faster, and also
completely switched to herbal food.

Mesohippus

40 million years ago the genus Mesohippus (meso-hippus) was formed. The height at the withers of this
horse was about 60 cm, the back was no longer arched, like its ancestors, and the legs, neck and muzzle
became longer. The structure of its hooves has also changed. The size of the brain hemispheres has
increased. It is at this stage that the horses begin to lose their camouflage coloration - it remains only on
the rump.

Miohippus

About 35 million years ago, the meso-hippus migrated into the genus Miohippus , whose
representatives became even larger, and their muzzles extended further.

Parahippus

23 million years ago, the genus Parahippus originated. This beast had better teeth and only three fingers
fused together in a hoof.

Merychippus

The descendants of parahippus were representatives of the genus Merychippus , which appeared 17
million years ago. In withers reached one meter. Their skull already resembled the skull of modern
horses, and the brain volume has increased significantly. The angle of view has become more. the neck
has become longer. The horse hoof begins to develop. The Merychippus genus has been divided into
several evolutionary lines, some of which have become extinct.

Pliohippus

Pliogippus is the first single-fingered ancestor of a horse. Appeared 10 million years ago. Height - about
1.2 m at the withers. Had strong ligaments of the legs. Had 19 pairs of ribs. Pliohippus fossils are found
in most layers of the Miocene in the vicinity of Colorado, Great Plains USA (Nebraska and Dakota) and in
Canada.

Equus (genus of horse)

After an intermediate link called Dinohippus , horses of the genus Equus appeared about 4 million years
ago. The early Equus had zebroid strips over the body and a short head like an ass. The fossils of modern
horses are found on every continent except Australia and Antarctica. The early horses were the size of a
pony. [one]
It took many centuries before the living creature in its amazing development passed the way from the
small eohyppus to the modern horse - our most noble animal and faithful assistant of man. Between
them - a whole series of ancient horses - from a five-footed horse the size of a fox to a European tarpan.
The Przhevalsky horse, kulans and zebras also live on Earth. But most of them - on the verge of
extinction.

The oldest horse-like ancestor of today's horses, donkeys and zebras lived about 54 million years ago.

At first, the scientists called him Eo-Kippus, since he lived in the Eocene, but then they renamed it
Gyrocterium. Neither tall, nor arched back, nor a long tail, this animal resembled a horse in any way.
And his teeth were completely different - adapted not for chafing grass, but for plucking and chafing the
leaves of young shoots. If you look at the skull of the fossil gyracottery from the side of the palate, you
can see the lumpy teeth, which laid the foundation for the teeth of modern horses. She nurtured the
leaves and shoots, and reached a height of only 30 cm. On her front legs she had 4 fingers with small
hooves, on the back - three.

This animal lived on the grassy plains of East Asia, in light forests of Europe, humid and dense North
America. This first horse is the direct ancestor of a horse and a zebra on Earth. One of the first
representatives of this genus, which disappeared long ago in the endless sea of the past, was the
orohyppus, which lived in the middle Eocene of the Tertiary period. These small horses, less than half a
meter high, stood at the very beginning of the evolutionary chain of horses. The small manes around the
necks of these horses were motionless, but tails, overgrown with sparse hair, fluttered in the air. Their
wool was a fur dyed, decorated with several inconspicuous longitudinal light stripes.

The front legs of the orogippus were four-fingered, and the hind legs were three-fingered, and there
were small hoofs on all toes. But already in these primitive horses, the bones of the middle toes were
developed more strongly than the lateral ones.

Horse evolution During the development of the horse genus, this feature gradually grew stronger and
stronger, until finally, in the Quaternary period, the earlier (Pleistocene) and modern (Holocene) horses
from the toes of both pairs of legs did not survive only the middle ones, which developed strongly and
formed thick hoofs. The lateral fingers, on the contrary, in the course of evolution were constantly
decreasing, shortened so that they no longer touched the ground, although they were still clearly visible,
and in the end were preserved only in the form of small, rod-like bones right under the skin.

Such a restructuring of the limbs during the evolution of the horse was caused by the fact that the
descendants of primitive horses more often and more often left the swampy and swampy forests and
began to live on solid ground in dry steppes covered with grass and shrubs. If for the most ancient (in
the geological sense) primitive horses, a greater number of fingers on the limbs was justified, since it
provided them with greater safety when walking on soft marshy soil, then in changed living conditions
for primitive horses it became more advantageous when their side fingers became gradually die off, and
the average to develop.

In the steppes, the soil is strong, solid, suitable not only for safe walking, but also for fast running. Rapid
movement for these extinct steppe horses was vital, as it was for them the only defense against the
attack of various predators. However, the speed of their run could increase only when they were able, if
possible, easier to tear off the feet from the ground and run only on the tip of the middle finger.

This became possible when the side fingers fell off and moved upwards so as not to touch the ground.
At the same time, the middle toe of each leg became stronger and more powerful, on which the weight
of the whole body was now pressing and with which the horse, when running, was easily repelled from
solid ground.

Simultaneously with the change in the limbs, changes occurred in the development of the jaws of the
horse. It was caused by the fact that the diet also changed with the change in the living environment of
the horse. Initially, omnivorous horses gradually became typical herbivores, since only steppe grasses
could be fed in the steppe. Their jaws were distinguished by long prismatic molars, which had flat, with a
complicated bend, rubbing surfaces on a high base. In accordance with these changes of the limbs and
jaws in the process of development of the genus, the facial part of the skull and neck were significantly
extended.

All this was accompanied by a constant increase in body size, which in the most ancient primitive horse
of the genus Eogippus, who lived in the early Eocene, was about the same as in the modern cat or fox.
Only at the end of the Tertiary period in extinct plesio-hippuses did it reach the size of some modern
horses. The first three-toed horse is the meso-hippus, who lived in the Oligocene (about 37 million years
ago), and his middle finger is already larger than the side fingers. Meso-hippus was the size of a sheep.
Halicotheria, these half-hippos, half-horses, became extinct many years ago, and then they were
assigned to the detachment of the equestrian. These creatures reached the size of a sheep and a horse,
to whom they actually resemble the structure of a skull. Halicotheria had a long muscular neck and
lumpy teeth, thanks to which they chewed soft leaves and plants. The front legs are long, strong, usually
four-toed. But the hind legs on the contrary, short and massive, often three-fingered. The front legs
ended with strong toes, and on the back were not hoofs, but thick and hard claws.

Scientists from the University of Copenhagen (Denmark), together with their colleagues from France,
Norway, USA, Canada and China, accomplished the impossible - sequenced the horse's genome, which
lived on Earth 560-780 thousand years ago. It is necessary to clarify that we are not talking about single
genes - the researchers managed to read all the DNA completely, so today it is the oldest complete
genome that we were able to decipher!

About 25 thousand years ago, people began to paint new creatures on the walls of European caves.
White horses with black spots appeared among rhinos, wild bulls and other animals. In total, more than
100 caves have been discovered in Europe, the walls of which carry images of at least four thousand
animals. The oldest samples of rock art are contained in the French cave Chauvet, they are at least 32
thousand years old. A third of the animals depicted are horses, and almost all horses are painted brown
or black, which corresponds to a bay and black suit.

The modern horse belongs to the Horse family, where besides it includes zebras and donkeys. The
Horses family, together with rhinos and tapirs, belong to the group of equids and are descendants of
Condylarthra, from which all ungulates originated. The Condylarthra group is a dog-like animal with five-
fingered limbs equipped with pads, the long-extinct primitive mammals of the ancient Paleocene group.

As the evolution of the horse took place 60 million years ago and how it gradually adapted to changing
environmental conditions, scientists learned from the study of fossils.

The history of the horse is 60 million years old. It was then that in the wet and dense forests of America
lived the eo-hippus (eo-hippus, as other scientists call it, or chiracotherium, as others call it), the size of a
small dog. Neither tall, nor arched back, nor a long tail, this animal resembled a horse. And of course, he
did not have hoofs - there were fingers: 4 on the front and 3 on the hind legs. And his teeth were
completely different - adapted not for chafing grass, but for plucking and chafing the leaves of young
shoots.