Artiodactyla

In the broad phylogenetic usage, a clade including Cetacea together with the traditional even-toed ungulates. Whale ancestry is therefore artiodactyl ancestry, despite the loss of the adult terrestrial hoofed body plan.

Domestic bovines whose archaeological history must be distinguished from that of wild aurochs.

A deer of the genus Muntiacus, some populations of which occur outside their native range through human introductions.

Cervus nippon, introduced into parts of Britain and Ireland through human management.

The deer lineage including Dama dama, with a long history of human translocation.

Cervus elaphus, whose modern populations can include both older regional lineages and recent translocations.

The wild form of Sus scrofa; interpretation of archaeological material must distinguish wild, domestic and managed animals.

The extinct wild cattle species Bos primigenius. Its regional disappearance must be distinguished from the history of domestic cattle.

The extinct deer Megaloceros giganteus, also called the Irish elk despite its wider geographical distribution. ^[ref]

A member of Ruminantia, characterized by a specialized foregut fermentation system and rumination. It is not a general name for every foregut-fermenting herbivore.

Living hippopotamuses belong to the closest living sister lineage of Cetacea; a living hippopotamus is not a whale ancestor.

The lineage of whales, dolphins and porpoises. Its Eocene fossils document a sequence from terrestrial or amphibious relatives to fully aquatic forms; living members comprise Odontoceti and Mysticeti.

A soft-tissue propulsive structure of the tail. It should not be drawn as a directly preserved fossil feature when only skeletal evidence is available.

A member of a late Eocene whale radiation with a fully aquatic body plan and strongly reduced hind limbs.

A late Eocene whale retaining small hind limbs incapable of supporting terrestrial walking. ^[ref]

A member of an Eocene grade of whales documenting increasing aquatic specialization. Named fossil grades need not be monophyletic under every analysis.

An Eocene whale whose ankle anatomy supplies evidence of artiodactyl relationships. A reconstructed tail fluke is not a directly preserved observation in its known skeletons. ^[ref]

An Eocene whale with a combination of robust limbs and aquatic locomotor specializations.

An early whale of the family Pakicetidae, with diagnostic ear anatomy but a largely terrestrial skeleton. ^[ref]

The whale lineage containing living baleen-bearing species and their extinct relatives, including toothed forms. Adult toothlessness is a derived feature of the living radiation.

Keratinous plates used in filtering food in living mysticetes. Its presence in a fossil may be inferred from associated anatomy but must not be confused with direct preservation of the plates. ^[ref]

The living toothed-whale lineage, including dolphins and porpoises. Specialized sound production and echolocation are important components of its sensory biology.