= Ungulate
An <ungulate> is conventionally a hoofed <mammal>. The name has also been applied broadly to extinct <mammals> with superficially similar anatomy, so a historical grouping by body form need not specify one exact modern evolutionary lineage. Convergent traits can make <fossil> relationships difficult to infer.
Ancient-protein analysis tested the relationships of two enigmatic South American forms. <Collagen> sequences recovered from <fossils> were compared with sequences from living <mammals>, placing the sampled extinct taxa near the odd-toed ungulate lineage rather than the alternative placements suggested by some anatomical comparisons. <Ancient proteins resolve the evolutionary history of Darwin's South American ungulates by Frido Welker and others>[2015, abstract: fossil collagen sequence recovery and phylogenetic placement of Toxodon and Macrauchenia]{ref} Molecular preservation thereby supplied evidence complementary to shape, even where recoverable ancient <DNA> had been lacking.
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