Polydaktylia - In remembrance to Eurohippus messelensis – a case report

Wolff, K.-D.; Lühken, G.; Litzke, Lutz-Ferdinand

doi:10.21836/pem20090608

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 9 publications

(23 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Additional evidence that only digit III contributes to the frog is provided by some so-called polydactyl horses (variants of regular domestic horses) that possess at least one additional digit (see [33,[134][135][136][137]). Although such polydactyly has different developmental causes and is not necessarily a reversion to an ancestral state, i.e.…”

Section: Origin Of the Frog And The Hoof Collateral Cartilagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hippariontracks and horses' toes: the evolution of the equid single hoof

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The traditional story of the evolution of the horse (family Equidae) has been in large part about the evolution of their feet. How did modern horses come to have a single toe (digit III), with the hoof bearing a characteristic V-shaped keratinous frog on the sole, and what happened to the other digits? While it has long been known that the proximal portions of digits II and IV are retained as the splint bones, a recent hypothesis suggested that the distal portion of these digits have also been retained as part of the frog, drawing upon the famous Laetoli footprints of the tridactyl (three-toed) equid Hipparion as part of the evidence. We show here that, while there is good anatomical and embryological evidence for the proximal portions of all the accessory digits (i.e. I and V, as well as II and IV) being retained in the feet of modern horses, evidence is lacking for the retention of any distal portions of these digits. There is also good ichnological evidence that many tridactyl equids possessed a frog, and that the frog has been part of the equid foot for much of equid evolutionary history.

show abstract