Before Horses Were Horses

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Before Horses Were Horses

• American Quarter Horse
• Hall of Fame Museum

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• 60 million
• years ago
• 40 million
• years ago
• 20 million
• years ago
• 6 million years
  ago

Evolution of the Horse
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Eohippus

• The four-toed Eohippus, 60 million years ago, was
  one of the first ancestors of the modern day
  horse.
• He was 14" high. (about the size of a cat!)

TOES
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Pliohippus

• Over the next 54 million years, the Eohippus
  directly evolved into the Pliohippus.
• This one-toed horse was 4 x the size and grew to
  be 48 inches.

TOES
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• The Pliohipuus was the ancestor to the zebras,
  domestic and wild donkeys, and to the wild horses
  such as the Przewalski's Horse.
• The still existing Przewalski (sha-val-ski) and
  its wild counterparts, the Tarpan, Tundra and
  Forest Horse
• lead to the
• Modern Horse.

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The Modern Horses

• Zebra
• Donkey
• Przewalski horse
• The modern horse

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Starting from the bottom, you can see how the
horse evolved into what it is today.
Eqqus
Merychippus
Miohippus
Hyracotherium
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Horses and Early Man

• Early Man was familiar with the horse and
  probably hunted it for food. As man evolved, he
  discovered the horse had another use, he could
  climb on its back and ride it. He could hitch it
  to a chariot and make war. The Mongols used the
  horse to overrun and conquer Europe. It became
  man's transportation and his great source of
  pleasure.

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How did this happen?

• Men today werent alive to see the ancestors of
  the modern horse, Eohippus, Pliohippus, etc. So
  how do scientists know they existed for sure?

Erosion!
Erosion The group of natural processes,
including weathering, dissolution, abrasion,
corrosion, and transportation, by which material
is worn away from the earth's surface.
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The Process of Erosion

• 100 million years ago Scallops and other
  invertebrates inhabited the sea in this area.
  When they die, they are covered by
• sand that settles on them.

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• 75 million years ago Pressure compacts the
  loose sandy sediments into hard sandstone.
  Dinosaurs now live, and die, in the locality.
  Like the scallops before them, their bodies are
  covered by sand..

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• 50 million years ago There is a tremendous
  volcanic eruption in the area. The ash thickly
  covers the land, and for a while the land cannot
  support much life.

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• 20 million years ago A Parahippus, a 3-toed
  horse common at the time, dies in the area. Like
  the other creatures before it, its body is buried
  in sand and sediments by wave action.

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• 3 million years ago The massive force of an
  earthquake causes layers of sediments to tilt and
  push upward.

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• Today Forces of erosion, such as water moving
  against rock for millions of years, gradually
  wears away the land surface and a few of the rock
  layers beneath it. The fossilized bones of the
  horse, hidden for millions of years, are exposed
  above the ground.

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Evolution Erosion

• Of the two things discussed today, evolution and
  erosion, what characteristics do they have in
  common?
• Both take place over long periods of time
• Change isnt noticed immediately.
• Both aid scientists to learn more.

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Resources

• http//www.riovistaproducts.com/exper/history/hist
  .html
• http//www.thefurtrapper.com/indian_horse.htm
• http//www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/vertpaleo/fhc/rela
  tives11.htm
• http//www.winridgefarm.com/zippos_old_gold/zog_pr
  ofile.jpg
• http//cache.eb.com/eb/image?id55003
• http//www.das.psu.edu/user/dasHistory/images/imag
  es/29.jpg