Natural Behaviour of the horse
Introduction
There has been anatomical and physiological adaptations of the horse over a period of time allowing them to survive and live longer in their natural habitat. Horses have five senses which influence their behaviour and actions in the wild to be able to survive and which they use towards other horse in their herd or towards horses from different herds. The body language they use and their communication methods used can be used to give warnings or tell people if they have any health problems which need medical help. The horses natural lifestyle is living in a heard with a range of different ages of horses which also have main instincts within the herd. There is a link between the horses natural behaviour
…show more content…
The horse started off as eohippus which is also known as the dawn horse. This horse was around fourteen inches in height and lived fifty to fifty five million years ago. This animal had pads for all four feet which is similar to the feet of a dog or cat. On his front feet they had four toes but on their hind feet they had three toes. Their limbs were small and because they were small they would not have been able to run fast enough to out run their predators. Eohippus had three incisors, one canine, four premolars and three grinding teeth on both sides of their mouth. The molars became uneven, dull and bumpy because they were used for grinding the vegetation being eaten. Their eyes were on the front of their short face. However they also had a short neck with an arched back, long tail and compact legs. The eohippus ate mainly forage, herbs, fruit and …show more content…
The mesohippus lived around fourty to twenty million years ago. It has grown in height slightly by growing up to twenty four inches high and it ate varied foliage. The forelegs have increased in length as well as the hind feet increasing in length. There is now only three toes on the hind feet and the front feet, their back is not as arched as the epihippus and they have a longer neck than epihippus. They had three incisors and six molar teeth on both sides of their mouth. The mesohippus then evolved into the miohippus.
The miohippus means small horse and lived around thirty six to thirty four million years ago in the Oligocene era. It grew to thirty inches in height and ate tougher forages. It had long legs on his fore and hind feet with three toes on both the front and hind feet. It had a long neck with a less upwards arching back. Miohippus’s teeth now have the molars developed into a more of a crest meaning they could eat tougher
Ceratopsians and Pachycephalosaurs are closely related in their characteristics. Ceratopsians processed a saddle-shaped boney frill that extended from the skull to the neck and typically had horns over the nose and eyes. The most popular was the triceratops, which could reach over 26 feet and weigh in excess of twelve metric tons. Their frills served as two major functions. It protected the vulnerable neck from being harmed. The second major function that the frill provided was due to the fact that the frill contained a network of blood vessels on its underside, which were used as a means to get rid of excess heat. The Pachycephalosaurs were considered to be bipedal. They were also found to have thick skulls, flattened bodies, and tail that were covered in an array of body rods. Pachycephalosaurs were thought to have been more than fifteen feet long and processed a skull that was surrounded by a rounded dome of solid bone. It was thought that they used their heads in combat or mating contests, but that was disproved fairly recently, which I will discuss later in the paper. Both Ceratopsians and Pachycephalosaurs were “bird-hipped” and both of these suborders contained a backwards pubic bone. Both were Marginocephilia, or “fringed heads”, which is one of three clads under the Orinthiscia order. They were also herbivore dinosaurs that inherited their fringe at the back of the skull from earlier ancestors.(2) Their classi...
The cowboy climbed aboard and gave a wild yell. The men holding the head of the horse let go and jumped back. Almost immediately the horse began bucking. The cowboy stayed with him though. The horse bucked around the pen slamming into the fence and off the post that was set in the middle of the pen. Finally the horse began to slow down and the cowboy got him under control. It would take another week of this before the horse would allow himself to be handled without blowing up.(Rashid 102)
Depression has a major effect on a person life. The accumulation of hidden emotion could cause difficulty in life. The consequences could be irrational thinking, suffering in ceased emotion or lead to a total disaster. In “Horses of the night” by Margaret Laurence and “ Paul’s case” by Willa Cather, both authors introduce the concept of depression. Although both selections offer interesting differences, it is the similarities that are significant.
Australopithecus afarensis existed between 3.9 and 3.0 million years ago. The distinctive characteristics of A. afarensis were: a low forehead, a bony ridge over the eyes, a flat nose, no chin, more humanlike teeth, pelvis and leg bones resembled those of modern man. Females were smaller than males. Their sexual dimorphism was males:females; 1.5. A. afarensis was not as sexually dimorphic as gorillas, but more sexually dimorphic than humans or chimpanzees. A lot of scientists think that Australopithecus afarensis was partially adapted to climbing the trees, because the fingers and toe bones of the species were curved and longer than the ones of the modern human.
Bipedalism had many advantages, but it also had many disadvantages and provided dangers to early hominids. Some of these disadvantages included i...
An assessment of adequate energy intake can be established by evaluating body condition. Deficient diets result in weight loss in the horse. Alternate causes of weight loss are internal parasites and disease. Excess energy intake wall cause obisity which stresses joints and reduces athletic ability. (arg.gov.sk.ca) A horse in moderate physical condition is described as “Back level. Ribs cannot be visually distinguished but can be easily felt. Fat around tailhead beginning to feel spongy. Withers appear rounded over spinous processes. Shoulders and neck blend smoothly into body.” (Henneke et al., 1981)
As the ancient civilizations of the west grew their empires, they encountered something so powerful, beastly, and strong that no man could hold down with his own two bare hands, nor could they be tamed. As centuries go on, men learned the ways of the horse and learned to ride upon their backs. They found them to be a key component in transportation, carrying goods, and warfare. As time went on, for every footprint of a human left behind in the wet mud, there was a hoof print not far from the footprint. Ancient Greeks believed that the horse was a gift from the gods, and they were greatly valued in their society.
I have always wanted to be a Special Education teacher. I started deciding what I wanted to do in the eighth grade. This was also around the time I was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. Asperger’s is an autism spectrum disorder; people with it show difficulties in social interactions, and reading body language. For me, I have trouble making friends and having age appropriate conversations. It is difficult to read people’s emotions, which sometimes gets me into trouble. I have been given the gift to be able to help teach other children with special needs how to ride horses, and also learn about how the horses communicate with these riders differently then a “normal” person. Through working with Ian I have been able to obtain a better understanding of my career goals.
The origin of modern day whales, a mystery that has puzzled paleontologists for years, may have just been solved with the discovery of an ankle bone. This discovery might sound simple and unimportant, but the bones of these ancient animals hold many unanswered questions and provide solid proof of origin and behavior. The relationship between whales and other animals has proven to be difficult because whales are warm-blooded, like humans, yet they live in the sea. The fact that they are warm-blooded suggests that they are related to some type of land animal. However, the questions of exactly which animal, and how whales evolved from land to water, have remained unanswered until now.
Bindon, Jim 2004 Fossil Hominids. ANT 270 Notes. http://www.as.ua.edu/ant/bindon/ant270/lectures/ hominids1.pdf Delson, Eric 1981
Based on what I have observed I would conclude that vision and touch are the two sensory systems most important for the animal to function successfully in its environment. I believe this based on the surrounding nature of the stables, pasture, number of horses and farm life. There are 19 other horses and 5 staff aside of the stable owner. A horse in that respect needs to have vision of what is going on in its surroundings and personal space. Likewise horses rely on touch and the ability to feel to keep their selves from harm and to gain more awareness of their surroundings.
1.9 million years ago, Homo Habilis of East Africa had evolved into an entirely new species known as Homo erectus. Homo erectus directly translates to "Upright man" and for good reason. One of largest anatomical advancements of Homo erectus was their arm and leg bones which were very similar in shape and proportions to that of modern day humans. "Their legs would have made Homo erectus efficient long distance runners like modern humans."(Dennis). Along with their longer more developed legs, Homo erectus's leg were also hairless which allowed them to evaporate sweat and thus be more efficient at not overheating. This advantage allowed Homo erectus to chase down four legged mammals to the point of heat exhaustion and thus drastically increase the efficiency their hunting tactics. Another change in the legs of Homo erectus was their slightly more narrow pelvises. This forced the size of a child’s head to be smaller at birth and undergo most of its development during childhood. (Dennis)
Austalopithicus meaning “southern ape” was the first specimen to be found. The Austalopithicus was found in African and was know to have lived from 4.2 to around 1.0 million years ago (Standford 251). They had a small body like an ape that would get approximately 64 to around 100 pounds. They had a big jaw with a U-shaped mouth of small teeth. The brain size of a Australopithicus was small and would get approximately 340 to 500 cc, which is in the same range as gorillas and chimpanzees brain sizes. The top of their skull was of a bony ridge. They were able to walk on their two feet and had a small pelvis. The Australopithecus were found with stone tools, which made them the first stone tool makers.
The horse that we know today developed from a small creature about the size of a small-dog, the fossil record of horses extend back to 50 million years ago. During evolution, some horses had survive tough conditions to breed the next generation this process known as natural selection. The horse developed into completely different animal from Hyracotherium also known as “Eohippus” meaning the “Darwin horse” to Equus, today's horses. Throughout the millions of years many changes had occurred to the evo-lution of horse, this essay will discuss the evolution of horses with the use of tayony, natural selection and modern research. When naming, describing, and classifying organisms including all animals, plants and microorganisms of the world, taxonomy is the right name used for this in science.
The increase in brain size may be related to changes in hominine behavior (See figure 3). The third major trend in hominine development is the gradual decrease in the size of the face and teeth. According to the Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia ’98, the fossil evidence for direct ancestors of modern humans is divided into the category Australopithecus and Homo, and begins about 5 million years ago (See figure 1). Between 7 and 20 million years ago, primitive apelike animals were widely distributed on the African and, later, on the Eurasian continents (See figure 2). Although many fossil bones and teeth have been found, the way of life of these creatures, and their evolutionary relationships to the living apes and humans, remain matters of active discussion among scientists.