Climate Change and Horse Evolution
Climate Change and Horse Evolution
Modern domestic horses are capable of some amazing feats. They can jump large heights, turn on a dime, and run incredibly quickly. Yet fossils from early relatives show that horses evolved from small, multi-toed forest dwellers, much different than the large, hooved athletes we know today. How, when, and why did these dramatic changes happen? We will explore these questions using 3-D models of fossil teeth drawn from university collections, and climate and floral data from earlier epochs, to infer what kinds of environmental conditions the horses lived in, and how this influenced their evolution.
Teachers Guide
The comprehensive Teachers Guide includes a detailed lesson plan, background information, key vocabulary, and additional resources.
Student Worksheets for Download
- Tooth Sketching and Measuring Sheet (link)
- Horse Tooth Data Table (link)
- Horse Tooth Data Table Answer Key (link)
- Tooth Data Graphing Page (link)
- Horse Environments Note Organizer (link)
Cenozoic Environments
What did landscapes look like at different points in horse evolution? Find out in this series of original drawings by artist Xavier Moss.
Learn more about each Cenozoic environment
Descriptions of the climate and ecosystems of the five Cenozoic epochs and a key to the animal species shown.
Other Resources
Video Resources
Introduction to the Vertebrate Paleontology Collection
Jessica Cundiff, the MCZ's Curatorial Associate of Vertebrate and Invertebrate Paleontology shows some of the highlights from the Collection. She describes what happens to fossils after they are collected in the field and ways that specimens can be shared with researchers far away using casts, photography, and 3-D scans. (5 min.)
The Evolution of Horses
Brianna McHorse, a paleobiologist at Harvard University, explains how fossils show dramatic changes in horse morphology over nearly 60 million years of evolution. (4 min.)