Did you know that the horse evolved in North America, 50 million years ago to now?
Phew, this took some time and brain work. I tried to simplify the horse evolution timeline. There are so many changes to horse ancestors every Million years that lead to each major change/period. I want this blog to be basic knowledge, so I abbreviated the timeline to make it as easy as possible to understand. If you want to delve into the evolution, feel free to study each phase in Wikipedia, and Brittanica encyclopedias, they give more details that are moe detailed. Here we go…
The dawn horse to the Equus of today.
52 million years ago, Eohippus began its transformation from a small, dog-sized, five-toed, and forest-dwelling ancestor to the Equus, (Equus is the horse of today).
It was a very intricate and slow evolution with many physical changes that lead us to our modern-day Equus. Its fun to know that there were thousands of complete, fossilized skeletons of the Equus ancestors found in the Wind River basin of Wyoming. And, fossils from different periods were scattered around North America.
23-5 Million Years Ago-Merychippus started evolving into the first ancester that appeared to look more like a horse of today. It had three toes but carried most of its weight on the middle toe. They were the first ancestors to truly graze on grasslands and travel at higher speeds like our horses today
4-6.5 Million Years of horse evolution: The Dinohippus is the first horse to show even more similarities to the Equus. They now had hooves and they both developed the ability to lock their legs in place to help them conserve energy while standing for long periods, like when sleeping. Fossils are widespread throughout North America, being found at more than 30 sites from Florida to Alberta and Panama
The oldest Equus fossil to date is 3.5 million years old from Idaho, USA. It is called the Plesippus and its body looked like a zebra and its head was shaped like a donkey and is considered an intermediate stage of horse evolution between Dinohippus and the extant genus, Equus
Mistake made in the horse evolution timeline?
There is some confusion now about what evolved into the Equus. For years it has been told the horse evolved from the Pliohippus 15 million years ago. And many illustrations and articles still show this. However, now research shows it is no longer considered a direct ancestor of the horse. Two species took two different directions of development and the Dinohippus was the next to develop and became second in line to the Equus of today. The Plesohippus is the first in line .
” Until recently, because of its many anatomical similarities, Pliohippus was believed to be the ancestor of the present-day horse and its relatives in Equus. Although Pliohippus clearly is an equid and thus related to Equus, its skull had deep facial fossae, a feature not found in any member of Equus. ” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliohippus
| Kingdom: | Animalia or Animals rely on other organisms for their nourishment, develop from embryos, ingest their food and then digest it, have developed muscles and hence mobility |
| Phylum: | Chordata During some period of their life cycle, chordates possess a vertebrae, a tail, gills, a spinal cord and endostyle (thyroid gland): these five anatomical features define this phylum. |
| Class: | Mammalia are vertebrate animals that have that produce milk for feeding their young |
| Order: | Perissodactyla are hoofed animals also called ungulates which bear most of their weight on one of up to five toes: typically the third and middle toe. The other 4 toes are either present, absent, or positioned posteriorly. |
| Family: | Equidae is the family of horses and related animals, including the extant horses, which are donkeys, and zebras. |
| Tribe: | Equini is the living tribe of the horse |
| Genus: | Equus is the Modern Day Horse |
In North America, the Equus became extinct 10,000 years ago?
North America is where today’s modern-day Family of Equidae evolved, only to become extinct 10-12,000 years ago. Scientists can only guess why they disappeared. But environment changes (colder climates) and predators have been some reasons for the modern-day horses’ disappearance from North America. Some ancestors had already escaped to Eurasia via the Bering Land Bridge 2.5 million years ago, and continued to evolve.
How did horses come to America during the horse evolution?
In 1493 Christopher Columbus was the first to bring horses to the Americas. He brought the Iberian horse. They are thought to be among the oldest types of domesticated horses. Modern Iberian breeds resemble their most famous member, the breed of horse called an Andalusian. After settlements were built, horses would be lost or stolen After escaping and becoming lost in the wild. Many feral horses found each other and created herds, and became the wild horses of America known as mustangs.
Did horses truly evolve?
As I was doing my research on the evolution of the horse. I came across an article that made me think a little harder on evolution. What does evolution mean to me? What do I truly believe? or What do I want to believe? Scientists and Theologians have their own opinions about evolution. They both believe wholeheartedly in their own interpretations.
For me, it is fun to think that evolution was God’s continual effort in designing the best possible creature for his final plan. And it is also very interesting, how each creature or ancestral evidence found acts as a puzzle piece in determining a creature of today.
As humans, what will be next?
Are we evolving into a creature better then what we are now, or is God truly happy with his creation of us? He has every right to change his mind. Some say we will never know, because as humans transforming into the next best thing, we will not be here to know if the scientists are correct. But, if God is truly in charge of the creation of life and death, we will find out at the end of ours. Which are you hoping is true?
An error is recognized
“The truth is, many evolutionists recognize that “horse evolution” as it is taught in countless schools is not true. One very famous evolutionist named George Gaylord Simpson said, “The uniform, continuous transformation of Hyracotherium into Equus, so dear to the hearts of generations of textbook writers, never happened in nature.” If it did not happen in nature, that means the only place it “happened” is in the imaginations of the textbook writers. When we look at all the evidence, we discover that horses did not evolve. They were created by an intelligent Designer. Many years ago, God asked Job, “Have you given the horse strength?” (Job 39:19). God’s point was that only He could design and create an animal as amazing as a horse.” https://www.apologeticspress.org/apPubPage.aspx?pub=2&issue=1247&article=2697