What is the differences and similaraties between a horse and elephant skeleton?

Answer 1

The long lower part of the legs of most four legged grazing mammals (horses Gazelles etc.) are the equivalent to human hand and feet bones, whilst the equivalent to our thighs and upper arms are foreshortened, so the animals walk on the equivalent to our fingers and toes. (Imagine yourself walking on all fours and you will find that your elbows and knees seem to bend the wrong way, relative to a horse's legs). Elephants, however, are more similar to ourselves and their lower legs are equivalent shines and forearms. They do walk on their toes, like a woman in high heels but the heel has a very large fatty pad to support the weight and cushion shock loads so they appear to be 'flat footed'.

Ian Clark - I am no specialist in this in this but I got curious when my daughter was told once by an Indian girl that 'Elephants cannot jump like a horse (which appears to be true) because they have no knees (which is not true) so I looked up some skeletons.