Ruminantia

Ruminantia
White-tailed Deer
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Artiodactyla Suborder: Ruminantia
Families
Tragulidae  Moschidae  Cervidae  Giraffidae  Antilocapridae  Bovidae

The biological suborder Ruminantia includes many of the well-known large grazing or browsing mammals: among them cattle, goats, sheep, deer, and antelope. All members of the Ruminantia are ruminants: they digest food in two steps, chewing and swallowing in the normal way to begin with, and then regurgitating the semi-digested cud to re-chew it and thus extract the maximum possible food value.

Note that not all ruminants belong to the Ruminantia. Camels and llamas are an obvious exception, and there are a number of other large grazing mammals that, while not strictly ruminants, have similar adaptations for surviving on large quantities of low-grade food. Kangaroos and horses are examples.

• ORDER ARTIODACTYLA
  • Suborder Suina: pigs, hippos and peccaries
  • Suborder Tylopoda: camels and llamas
  • Suborder Ruminantia
    • Family Tragulidae: chevrotains
    • Family Moschidae: musk deer
    • Family Cervidae: deer
    • Family Giraffidae: Giraffe and Okapi
    • Family Antilocapridae: Pronghorn
    • Family Bovidae: cattle, goats, sheep, and antelope