Plants & CreaturesGreek → English
Artiodactyl
/ˌɑːtioʊˈdæktɪl/noun
A hoofed mammal that bears its weight on the third and fourth toes, such as a pig, camel, deer or cow.
The Greek roots
ἄρτιος
ártios
even in number
δάκτυλος
dáktulos
finger, toe
Literally: “even-toed”
The story of the word
Richard Owen split the hoofed mammals in 1848 by counting toes: even for artiodactyls, odd for perissodactyls like horses and rhinos. Molecular work later forced an awkward addition, since whales sit inside this group, closest to hippos. The order is now often written Cetartiodactyla, which is a taxonomist's way of admitting a surprise.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
perissodactylpterodactyldactylarithmetic
In a sentence
Every animal in the barn except the pony was an artiodactyl.
Fossil artiodactyls from Pakistan closed the gap between deer and whales.