Ask A Scientist Zoology Archive

name        Zec
status      teacher
age         40's

Question -   I have been researching the hoof of hippopotami.  I have conflicting information 
about this animal.  Does it have a cloven hoof, such as a deer, gazelle, bovines, goats, llamas, 
and the like?  I have some sources that say yes, but that conflicts with other sources that 
speak of four toes, and in some pictures, the hoof looks more like that of the elephant than 
that of a buffalo.
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I believe that hooved animals are grouped into even toed and odd toed.  So a cloven hoof can be "cloven" in two, or four.


vanhoeck
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