The pictures illustrate the evolution of the horse with particular emphasis on the changing foot structure throughout 40 million years.
In the first phase, 40 million years ago, a horse was known as Eohippus and had a foot with four separated toes. Dating back to 30 million years, this animal took the name Mesohippus, and its foot developed to 3-toe structure, becoming less complicated comparing to Eohippus’ one. In the next phase, after 15 million years, a horse evolutioned to Merychippus, which foot structure was twice as huge as those of Mesohippus, but its elements remained almost the same. Eventually, modern species has a hoop with bigger size and less sophisticated bone structure.
Overall, the appearance of a horse has been changing drastically over a period. Its body, especially hoops and head, have been becoming bigger with every new species, while the amount of hair has been also increasing over the period. Therefore, there are many notable changes in foot structure with phases development.
