Equidae in the Paleocene
The first recognized member
of the family Equidae did not appear until after the end of the Paleocene
epoch. However, the Paleocene was the time of the condylarths,
a group of small herbivorous mammals that were found on every continent
except Australia between 65 and 40 million years ago (Johnson 1967, Bourdelais
1997). These small mammals had five toes on each foot (Johnson 1967) and
were the first mammals to have hooves (Bourdelais 1997). They are
believed to be the ancestors of all ungulates,
including the family Equidae (Benton 2000).
