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Abstract
Perissodactyla (Schoch 1989) includes tapirs, rhinoceros, wild asses, horses, and zebras. It is the order of hoofed mammals referred to as “odd-toed ungulates” because its members have one to three weight-bearing toes and walk on hoofs or “ungules.” They are herbivores that are specialized to exploit grasslands and brushy habitat (rhinos, horses, asses, zebras) or dense tropical forests (tapirs). All share a common digestive system called hindgut fermentation, or cecal digestion (in the cecum), and can consume relatively tough, coarse forage. Some perissodactyls are “browsers” that forage primarily on woody shrubs and trees, whereas others are “grazers” with a graminoid-dominated diet. They are all predominantly opportunistic feeders and select for quantity over quality of forage; that is, they consume more abundant low-quality forage instead of searching and selecting for higher-quality forage because it gives them the advantage of reducing search effort, which conserves energy.
| Publication type | Book chapter |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Book Chapter |
| Title | Perissodactyla diet |
| DOI | 10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_897-1 |
| Year Published | 2018 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Springer |
| Contributing office(s) | Fort Collins Science Center |
| Larger Work Type | Book |
| Larger Work Title | Encyclopedia of animal cognition and behavior |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |