Science tells us that millions of years of evolution has put us, and all other animals, where we are today. They tell us that the fish grew legs to walk and lungs to breathe, gills disappeared and reformed creating the creatures they are today. Through all of the chaos in evolution, horses formed into the majestic animals they are today. The equine species is one of the most well studied, and best understood timelines that showcases the scientific understanding of species evolutionary facts and theories.
Continental Drift: Before and After the Earth Shifted
Not only were animals evolving through the years, but the earth was morphing with them. With better access to all parts of the earth, the early horses roamed many parts of the world. The modern rise to horses originated from Eurasia between 2 and 3 million years ago. Subsequently,
the previous North American population of early horses became extinct around 8,000 and 12,000 years ago.
In the 1970’s a group of archeologists discovered the remains of an early horse that they called the Eohippus. The term used to name the early horse is a Greek term that means “Dawn Horse” whereas a similar term of the word means a Hyrax-like Beast. A Hyrax being a small, furred creature, sometimes called a rock badger. The fossil was found to be around 56 million years old; when the Eohippus made their first appearances.
Eohippus: The First Equine Species
Though the Eohippus is considered to be where the modern day horse originated, the closest
extinct creature similar to the horses we have today, was the Tarpan horse. This horse was of Euarsian descent, superiourly evolving from the Eohippus due to the world placement drifting over the millions of years, separating the two descendants into vastly different environmental biomes, in two vastly different time frames after migrating.
Start of Evolution
The Tarpan horse was formed from a long evolution starting from the Eohippus and moving to the Orohippus, found around 2 million years after the Eohippus was roaming the earth.
The Orohippus, a direct descendant of the Eohippus, was around the same size as the previous species but had a longer neck, slimmer figure, and longer back legs which is a quality of a jumping animal. Unlike their predecessor, the Orohippus moved away from foraging in the forest environment and became a browser, feeding on rangeland areas. This species lasted around 20 million years and were followed by the Mesohippus.
Mesohippus lived around 35 million years ago and stood larger than the previous two species. It was around 6 hands tall, with slim, long legs and a muzzle like nose. The term meso indicates the term “middle” meaning it is the middle species between modern day horses and the early horses. The fossils of the Mesohippus were found in the plains of North America, concluding that the