--- title: "Hoofed Mammals (Ungulata) | Evolutionary Clade | AnimalTracks.wiki" description: "Keratin-hoofed runners equipped with multi-chambered fermentation stomachs and head armor. Explore 42 species in the Hoofed Mammals evolutionary lineage." image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/icon-512.png" --- # Hoofed Mammals (*Ungulata*) > Keratin-hoofed runners equipped with multi-chambered fermentation stomachs and head armor. Ungulates dominate grasslands, tundra, and forests worldwide. Walking on the tips of toes encased in durable keratin hooves, these herbivores convert tough cellulose grasses into bio-mass using specialized multi-chambered stomachs or hindgut fermentation chambers. ## Key Evolutionary Adaptations - Ruminant stomachs divide digestion into four distinct compartments to ferment cellulose with symbiotic microbes. - A giraffe's arterial blood pressure near the heart runs about twice a human's, to keep blood reaching the brain at the top of its neck. - Keratin hooves shock-absorb thousands of kilograms of kinetic impact during high-speed herd sprints. ## Member Species (42 Creatures) - [African Buffalo](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/african-buffalo/) (*Syncerus caffer*) - **Superpower**: Bulls that have been recorded fending off more than one lion - **Musical Match**: Kimbra (2010s Pop & Electropop) - [Alpaca](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/alpaca/) (*Vicugna pacos*) - **Superpower**: Antibodies with no light chain, whose heat-stable variable regions scientists use in diagnostics, bio-imaging, and treatments. - **Musical Match**: Kings of Convenience (Pastoral Folk & Progressive Bluegrass) - [Alpine Chamois](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/alpine-chamois/) (*Rupicapra rupicapra*) - **Superpower**: Hooves that are excellent for gripping slippery rock, and a habit of fleeing to the hardest places to reach, often with huge leaps. - **Musical Match**: Shantel (Balkan Brass & Romani Folk Riot) - [American Bison](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/american-bison/) (*Bison bison*) - **Superpower**: A shaggy, heavily insulated head built to face straight into a blizzard and sweep snow off buried grass, backed by a 30 mph top speed. - **Musical Match**: Clutch (Classic Hard Rock & Southern Blues) - [Bactrian Camel](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/bactrian-camel/) (*Camelus bactrianus*) - **Superpower**: Two humps that store fat, not water, and, like other camels, a body that can survive a 40 percent weight loss and then drink up to 32 gallons (145 liters) of water in one session. - **Musical Match**: Yat-Kha (Nordic & Steppe Folk Metal) - [Bighorn Sheep](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/bighorn-sheep/) (*Ovis canadensis*) - **Superpower**: A double-layered skull shored with struts of bone and a massive tendon linking skull to spine; the thick, bony skull absorbs repeated head-on clashes at up to 40 mph with little injury to the ram. - **Musical Match**: Mdou Moctar (Saharan Desert Rock & Tuareg Shred) - [Black Rhinoceros](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/black-rhino/) (*Diceros bicornis*) - **Superpower**: A hooked, prehensile upper lip that grabs plants and guides them into its mouth. - **Musical Match**: Bolt Thrower (Brutal Death Metal & Heavy Groove) - [Blue Wildebeest](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/blue-wildebeest/) (*Connochaetes taurinus*) - **Superpower**: Forelimb muscle that works at 62.6% efficiency, against 41.8% in a cow's - **Musical Match**: Caterina Barbieri (IDM & Glitch Ambient Synthesis) - [Clydesdale Horse](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/clydesdale-horse/) (*Equus caballus*) - **Superpower**: An immensely strong, barrel-chested body, bred for hauling and farm work - **Musical Match**: Electric Wizard (Sludge Metal & Abyssal Doom) - [Collared Peccary](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/collared-peccary/) (*Dicotyles tajacu*) - **Superpower**: Self-sharpening canine teeth that clack in warning, and a scent gland above the tail that marks territory - **Musical Match**: Meredith Monk (Neo-Classical & Baroque Chamber) - [Common Warthog](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/common-warthog/) (*Phacochoerus africanus*) - **Superpower**: Kneels on calloused, padded wrist joints to graze short grass, then backs into a borrowed aardvark burrow, tusks facing out. - **Musical Match**: Wiley (Heavy UK Grime & Sub-Bass) - [Domestic Yak](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/yak/) (*Bos grunniens*) - **Superpower**: A heart that weighs 1.18% of body weight, against 0.39% in cattle - **Musical Match**: Berlin (80s Retrowave & Synthwave) - [Donkey](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/donkey/) (*Equus asinus*) - **Superpower**: A hee-haw that can travel up to 3 km - **Musical Match**: Ennio Morricone (Desert Americana & Cinematic Rock) - [Dromedary](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/dromedary/) (*Camelus dromedarius*) - **Superpower**: Lets its body temperature swing from 34 to 41.7 degrees Celsius so it can save water by not sweating as the day heats up - **Musical Match**: Peggy Lee (Jazz-Funk, Soul & Lounge Fusion) - [Elk](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/elk/) (*Cervus canadensis*) - **Superpower**: A bugle made of two sound sources at once - **Musical Match**: Andrew Bird (Art Pop & Baroque Pop) - [Gaur](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/gaur/) (*Bos gaurus*) - **Superpower**: Herds that, one warden wrote, stand and fight a tiger rather than run - **Musical Match**: Anna Meredith (Post-Rock & Cinematic Orchestral) - [Gerenuk](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/gerenuk/) (*Litocranius walleri*) - **Superpower**: Rears onto its hind legs to browse tree leaves that are out of reach for most other antelope species - **Musical Match**: Arvo Pärt (Neo-Classical & Baroque Chamber) - [Giraffe](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/giraffe/) (*Giraffa camelopardalis*) - **Superpower**: Arterial blood pressure near the heart roughly double a human's, to fight gravity. A mechanical model suggests that a rise in the pressure pushing blood through the brain as the head swings back up may help stop it fainting. - **Musical Match**: Ebo Taylor (Afrobeat) - [Gloucestershire Old Spot Pig](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/gloucestershire-old-spot/) (*Sus domesticus*) - **Superpower**: A calm, hardy build suited to outdoor rearing, and a snout that roots underground for worms and grubs. - **Musical Match**: Jah Shaka (Roots Reggae & Heavy Dub) - [Goat](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/goat/) (*Capra hircus*) - **Superpower**: A digestive system that works nonstop, with a four-compartment stomach and an intestinal canal about 30.5 meters long - **Musical Match**: NEU! (Psychedelic Rock & Neo-Psych) - [Highland Cattle](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/highland-cow/) (*Bos taurus*) - **Superpower**: A double coat that means the breed does not need a heavy layer of back fat for insulation. - **Musical Match**: Sigur Rós (Post-Rock & Cinematic Orchestral) - [Hippopotamus](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/hippopotamus/) (*Hippopotamus amphibius*) - **Superpower**: A bull's canine tusks keep growing for life and can reach 50 cm, kept sharp by grinding, inside a jaw that gapes 150 degrees, more than three times a human's 45. - **Musical Match**: Skepta (Heavy UK Grime & Sub-Bass) - [Impala](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/impala/) (*Aepyceros melampus*) - **Superpower**: Leaps that can span over 9 metres, often over bushes and even other impala. - **Musical Match**: Roni Size & Reprazent (Drum & Bass / Precision Jungle) - [Llama](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/llama/) (*Lama glama*) - **Superpower**: Makes heavy chain-only antibodies, and one raised by immunization neutralized 96 of 100 HIV-1 strains tested - **Musical Match**: Philip Glass (Neo-Classical & Baroque Chamber) - [Malayan Tapir](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/malayan-tapir/) (*Tapirus indicus*) - **Superpower**: A prehensile snout, formed from the nose and upper lip, that plucks leaves from branches and places them in its mouth. - **Musical Match**: Buddy Holly (50s Rock & Roll & Rockabilly) - [Moose](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/moose/) (*Alces alces*) - **Superpower**: Legs that can sometimes move through deep snow more easily than a wolf's, plus a top speed of up to 35 mph. - **Musical Match**: Kyuss (Stoner Rock & Desert Groove) - [Muskox](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/muskox/) (*Ovibos moschatus*) - **Superpower**: Four inches of horn and three inches of bone over a bull's brain - **Musical Match**: Conan (Sludge Metal & Abyssal Doom) - [Nubian Ibex](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/nubian-ibex/) (*Capra nubiana*) - **Superpower**: Generally keeps to the most remote, highest, and steepest cliffs, where staying near the edge lowers the risk of predation, and typically comes down only to graze. - **Musical Match**: Erkin Koray (Anatolian Rock & Levantine Psych) - [Okapi](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/okapi/) (*Okapia johnstoni*) - **Superpower**: A prehensile tongue long enough to reach its own eyes and ears, plus a scent gland on each foot that leaves sticky, tar-like marks on its territory - **Musical Match**: Papa Wemba (African Rumba & Mande Pop) - [Plains Zebra](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/plains-zebra/) (*Equus quagga*) - **Superpower**: Stripes that a 2014 study linked to biting flies, in a pattern unique enough to work as an ID card for every zebra in the herd. - **Musical Match**: Black Coffee (Afrobeats & Modern Amapiano) - [Pronghorn](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/pronghorn/) (*Antilocapra americana*) - **Superpower**: Distance speed: can run 11 km at an average of 65 km/h, powered by an extraordinary capacity to consume and process oxygen - **Musical Match**: Kraftwerk (Krautrock & Electronic Pioneers) - [Przewalski's Horse](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/przewalskis-horse/) (*Equus ferus przewalskii*) - **Superpower**: Breeds with domestic horses and gets fertile young, despite 66 chromosomes against their 64. - **Musical Match**: Caroline Shaw (Neo-Classical & Baroque Chamber) - [Pygmy Hippopotamus](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/pygmy-hippo/) (*Choeropsis liberiensis*) - **Superpower**: A glossy "blood sweat" from glands in its skin that protects its thin, sensitive skin from the sun, with more of it seen during hard exertion. - **Musical Match**: Salif Keita (African Rumba & Mande Pop) - [Red Deer](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/red-deer/) (*Cervus elaphus*) - **Superpower**: Stags that roar through the autumn rut, then regrow a full set of antlers each year - **Musical Match**: Jussi Björling & Robert Merrill (Opera & Romantic Vocal Drama) - [Reindeer (Caribou)](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/reindeer/) (*Rangifer tarandus*) - **Superpower**: A tapetum lucidum (mirror layer behind the retina) that shifts from gold-turquoise in summer to deep blue in winter to match Arctic twilight, paired with a retina that also responds to ultraviolet light. - **Musical Match**: Mari Boine (Nordic Dark Folk & Ritual Atmospheric) - [Saiga Antelope](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/saiga-antelope/) (*Saiga tatarica*) - **Superpower**: An oversized, inflatable nose that helps it breathe warm air in frosty winters and filter dust in summer. - **Musical Match**: The HU (Nordic & Steppe Folk Metal) - [Springbok](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/springbok/) (*Antidorcas marsupialis*) - **Superpower**: Pronking: stiff-legged vertical leaps up to 3.5 m high. - **Musical Match**: Van Halen (80s Pop & Dance Anthem) - [Suffolk Sheep](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/suffolk-sheep/) (*Ovis aries*) - **Superpower**: Rapid growth: lambs can gain more than a pound (0.45 kg) a day and be market-ready as early as three to four months old. - **Musical Match**: The Stone Roses (Britpop & 90s Madchester) - [Water Buffalo](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/water-buffalo/) (*Bubalus bubalis*) - **Superpower**: Wallows in mud to cool off, with sweat glands that are poorly spread - **Musical Match**: Crowbar (Sludge Metal & Abyssal Doom) - [White Rhinoceros](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/white-rhinoceros/) (*Ceratotherium simum*) - **Superpower**: A dermis 18 millimeters thick on average, and a keratin front horn that can grow longer than 1.5 meters (5 feet). - **Musical Match**: Red Fang (Stoner Rock & Desert Groove) - [White-Tailed Deer](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/white-tailed-deer/) (*Odocoileus virginianus*) - **Superpower**: A white tail raised as a danger signal - **Musical Match**: Antonio Vivaldi (Neo-Classical & Baroque Chamber) - [Wild Boar](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/wild-boar/) (*Sus scrofa*) - **Superpower**: A long, flattened snout that gives it a heightened sense of smell - **Musical Match**: Maurice Ravel (Neo-Classical & Baroque Chamber) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/clades/ungulates/#collection", "name": "Hoofed Mammals (Ungulata)", "description": "Keratin-hoofed runners equipped with multi-chambered fermentation stomachs and head armor.", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/clades/ungulates/", "mainEntity": { "@type": "ItemList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "African Buffalo", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/african-buffalo/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Alpaca", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/alpaca/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alpine Chamois", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/alpine-chamois/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "American Bison", "url": 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"https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/okapi/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 30, "name": "Plains Zebra", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/plains-zebra/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 31, "name": "Pronghorn", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/pronghorn/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 32, "name": "Przewalski's Horse", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/przewalskis-horse/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 33, "name": "Pygmy Hippopotamus", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/pygmy-hippo/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 34, "name": "Red Deer", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/red-deer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 35, "name": "Reindeer (Caribou)", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/reindeer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 36, "name": "Saiga Antelope", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/saiga-antelope/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 37, "name": "Springbok", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/springbok/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 38, "name": "Suffolk Sheep", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/suffolk-sheep/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 39, "name": "Water Buffalo", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/water-buffalo/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 40, "name": "White Rhinoceros", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/white-rhinoceros/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 41, "name": "White-Tailed Deer", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/white-tailed-deer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 42, "name": "Wild Boar", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/wild-boar/" } ] } } ] } ```