Tylopoda

Tylopoda
Temporal range: Early Eocene–Holocene
A dromedary camel
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Suborder: Tylopoda
Illiger, 1811
Families

Camelidae
and numerous prehistoric families (see text)

Tylopoda (meaning "calloused foot")[1] is a suborder of terrestrial herbivorous even-toed ungulates belonging to the order Artiodactyla. They are found in the wild in their native ranges of South America and Asia, while Australian feral camels are introduced. The group has a long fossil history in North America and Eurasia. Tylopoda appeared during the Eocene around 50 million years ago.

Tylopoda has only one extant family, Camelidae, which includes camels, llamas, guanacos, alpacas and vicuñas. This group was much more diverse in the past, containing a number of extinct families in addition to the ancestors of living camelids (see below).

Tylopods are not ruminants.[2]

  1. ^ Donnegan, James (1834). "A New Greek and English Lexicon"
  2. ^ Fowler, M.E. (2010). "Medicine and Surgery of Camelids", Ames, Iowa: Wiley-Blackwell. Chapter 1, General Biology and Evolution, addresses the fact that camelids (including llamas and camels) are not ruminants, pseudoruminants, or modified ruminants.