Horses are some of the most beautiful and powerful animals on the planet. They have been used for a variety of purposes for thousands of years, from transportation to sport. But few people know that horses had fingers, or rather, finger-like limbs, which they lost in the process of evolution. How did this happen?
The evolutionary history of horses began more than 50 million years ago. At that time, they were small creatures about the size of a dog that lived in forests and ate plants. They had four finger-like limbs, each ending in a hoof.
Over the next million years, horses began to change their way of life and environment. They became tall-legged, which helped them run faster and escape predators. They also switched to eating grass, which required a longer and more flexible spine.
As a result of these changes, horses gradually began to lose their toes. At first, they were left with only three toes on their front limbs and four on their hind limbs. Then, after millions of years, they lost all but one of their fingers, the middle one.
Today, horses have only one toe on each leg, but it is very long and strong, which helps them move at great speeds and jump over obstacles.
Interestingly, other animals such as whales and dolphins also have traces of their toes in the form of bones inside their fins and flippers. This indicates that these animals also went through a process of evolution and lost their fingers.
As we can see, evolution is a long process that can take millions of years. But through it, animals become more adapted to changes in their environment and survive in it.
