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Did you know that horses weren't always big hoofed beasts that eat grass and carry huge loads? Actually the first
horse was only the size of a fox! It lived 55 milliuon years ago. We call it the Eohippus, which comes from a
language the I dunnoThe Eohippus was four-toed and was a browser, which means it ate only shrubs and leaves.
About 40 million years ago the Eohippus was replaced by the Mesohippus. It was the size of a sheep and was three-toed.
It was also a browser.
Soon after, during the Miocene Epoch 25 million years ago the Mesohippus was replaced by the Merychippus. The Merychippus
was the first grazing horse, which mean it ate grasses. Around that time the woodlands that had brought the Eohippus
and Mesohippus was being replaced by grasslands. The grass in these grasslands was too tough for the Mesohippus so when
it evolved it developed high-crowned teeth designed to pull and rip apart though grasses. Though the Merychippus was
three-toed, its legs were longer and much stronger. The reason for this was to avoid predators and to run farther in
search of pasture.
They were not to last, however, the Merychippus was replaced by the Pliohippus about 5 million years ago.
This was the first one-toed horse and was also a grazer.
And finally, about 1.5 million years ago the Pliohippus was replaced by the equus, or modern horse. This is the
horses that we see today.
Some time periods may differ from some other books and infopages.
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