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Studies of horse evolution arose during the middle of the 19th century, and several hypotheses have been proposed for their taxonomy, paleobiogeography, paleoecology and evolution. The present contribution represents a collaboration of 19 multinational experts with the goal of providing an updated summary of Pliocene and Pleistocene North, Central and South American, Eurasian and African horses. At the present time, we recognize 114 valid species across these continents, plus 4 North African species in need of further investigation. Our biochronology and biogeography sections integrate Equinae taxonomic records with their chronologic and geographic ranges recognizing regional biochronologic frameworks. The paleoecology section provides insights into paleobotany and diet utilizing both the mesowear and light microscopic methods, along with calculation of body masses. We provide a temporal sequence of maps that render paleoclimatic conditions across these continents integrated with Equinae occurrences. These records reveal a succession of extinctions of primitive lineages and the rise and diversification of more modern taxa. Two recent morphological-based cladistic analyses are presented here as competing hypotheses, with reference to molecular-based phylogenies. Our contribution represents a state-of-the art understanding of Plio-Pleistocene Equus evolution, their biochronologic and biogeographic background and paleoecological and paleoclimatic contexts.

The anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) plays an inhibitory role during folliculogenesis by regulating the number of follicles entering the growing pool. Antral follicle counts (AFC) are highly correlated with serum AMH concentrations and both appear to be related to the ovarian reserve in several species. Few data on AMH and AFC in mares exist, especially with regard to fertility. Therefore, the objective of the current study was to investigate the interrelationship between antral follicle count, serum AMH concentrations and fertility outcome in mares. One hundred and twenty-seven mares were enrolled in the study and grouped according to their reproductive status. Around time of estrus, serum AMH concentrations and AFC before and after ovulation were determined. Mares were artificially inseminated and pregnancy diagnosis was performed 14 to 18 days later. A high inter-individual variability in AFC and AMH concentration and a positive relationship between AMH and AFC for follicles ≤ 30 mm in diameter were observed, with a stronger correlation in mares older than 18 years. A high correlation between AFC measurements before and after ovulation was identified. The AFC after ovulation was higher than AFC before ovulation. AMH concentrations were neither related to the mares' reproductive status nor to age, number of cycles needed for pregnancy and pregnancy outcome. Excepted for a higher AFC in the middle-aged mares (9-18 years) compared to the younger mares (9 years), no associations between AFC and age, reproductive status as well as fertility of mares were found. This study confirms the relationship between AFC and AMH and a high degree of reproducibility of AFC measurements. However, based on our findings, neither AFC nor AMH are useful predictors of fertility in mares.Das Anti-Müller-Hormon (AMH) hemmt während der Follikulogenese die Anzahl heranwachsender Follikel. Die Anzahl der antralen Follikel («antral follicle count», AFC) korreliert stark positiv mit der Serumkonzentration von AMH und beide sind bei mehreren Spezies ein Indikator für die ovarielle Reserve. Da bisher wenige Daten über AFC und AMH bei Stuten, insbesondere im Hinblick auf deren Auswirkungen auf die Fertilität vorliegen, sollte dies in der vorliegenden Arbeit un­tersucht werden. Hundertsiebenundzwanzig Stuten ­wurden in die Studie eingeschlossen und nach Reproduk­tionsstatus gruppiert. Die AFC und die AMH-Konzen­tration wurden während der Rosse vor und nach der Ovulation ermittelt. Die Stuten wurden künstlich besamt und die 14 bis 18 Tage später eine Trächtigkeitsunteruchung durchgeführt. Es bestanden hohe Variabilität im AFC und in der AMH-Konzentration zwischen den Stuten und ein positiver Zusammenhang zwischen AMH und AFC für Follikel mit einem Durchmesser ≤ 30 mm, wobei die Korrelation bei Stuten18 Jahre stärker ausgeprägt war. Die AFC-Messungen vor und nach Ovulation korrelierten sehr gut miteinander, wobei der AFC nach Ovulation grösser war als vor der Ovulation. Die AMH-Konzentrationen waren unabhängig vom Alter, dem Reproduktionsstatus, der Anzahl benötigter Zyklen bis zur Erreichung einer Trächtigkeit und dem Trächtigkeitsausgang. Mit Ausnahme der Beobachtung, dass die AFC bei mittelalten Stuten (9–18 Jahre) höher als diejenige bei AFC jüngerer Stuten (9 Jahre) war, konnten keine Assoziationen zwischen AFC und Alter, Reproduktionsstatus oder Fertilität erkannt werden. Diese Studie bestätigt den Zusammenhang zwischen AFC und AMH und eine hohe Reproduzierbarkeit der AFC-Messungen. Allerdings können anhand der vorliegenden Ergebnisse weder AFC noch AMH als brauchbare Prädiktoren für die Fruchtbarkeit von Stuten herangezogen werden.Il existe peu de données sur l’AMH et l’AFC chez les juments, particulièrement en rapport avec la fertilité. L’objectif de cette étude était donc d’examiner la relation entre le compte de follicules antraux, le taux sérique d’AMH et la fécondité chez les juments. Cent vingt-sept juments ont été inclues dans l’étude et groupées selon leur état reproducteur. Les taux sériques d’AMH et l’AFC ont été déterminés pendant l’oestrus avant et après l’ovulation. Les juments ont été inséminées artificiellement et le diagnostic de gestation réalisé 14 à 18 jours plus tard. Une grande variabilité interindividuelle de l’AFC et l’AMH et une corrélation positive entre l’AMH et l’AFC pour les follicules de diamètre ≤ 30 mm ont été observées, cette dernière étant plus forte chez les juments âgées de plus de 18 ans. L’AFC après ovulation était supérieur à l’AFC avant ovulation, et une forte corrélation entre les deux mesures a été constatée. Aucun lien entre les taux sériques d’AMH, l’état reproducteur, l’âge, le nombre de cycles œstraux par gestation et le taux de gestation n’a été observé. Hormis un AFC supérieur chez les juments d’âge moyen (9-18 ans) comparé aux juments plus jeunes (.L’ormone antimulleriano (AMH) funge da regolatore della follicologenesi inibendo il reclutamento e lo sviluppo follicolare iniziale. La conta dei follicoli antrali («antral follicle count», AFC) è altamente correlata alla concentrazione sierica di AMH ed entrambi sembrano avere valore predittivo sulla riserva ovarica in diverse specie. Pochi dati sono disponibili sull’AMH e la AFC nelle cavalle, specialmente in relazione alla fertilità. Lo scopo di questo studio era quindi quello di indagare sull’interrelazione tra la conta dei follicoli antrali, i livelli sierici di AMH e la fertilità nelle cavalle. Centoventisette cavalle sono state arruolate nello studio e divise in gruppi in base al loro stato riproduttivo. Le concentrazioni sieriche di AMH e l’AFC sono state determinate durante l’estro prima e dopo l’ovulazione. Le cavalle sono state inseminate artificialmente e la diagnosi di gravidanza è stata effettuata 14-18 giorni più tardi. Sono state osservate un’alta variabilità interindividuale ed una correlazione positiva tra l’AMH e la AFC per i follicoli con diametro ≤ 30 mm, la quale era più forte nelle cavalle di età superiore a 18 anni. La AFC dopo l’ovulazione era più alta della AFC prima dell’ovulazione, ed è stata riscontrata un’elevata correlazione tra i due conteggi. I livelli sierici di AMH non erano in relazione con lo stato riproduttivo delle cavalle, né con la loro età, il numero di cicli estrali per gravidanza e tasso di gravidanza. Non sono state identificate associazioni tra AFC, età, stato riproduttivo e fertilità delle cavalle, ad eccezione di una AFC maggiore nelle cavalle di media età (9-18 anni) rispetto a quelle più giovani (.

The Oldowan site HWK EE (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania) has yielded a large fossil and stone tool assemblage at the transition from Lower to Middle Bed II, ∼1.7 Ma. Integrated tooth wear and stable isotope analyses were performed on the three most abundant ungulate taxa from HWK EE, namely Alcelaphini, cf. Antidorcas recki (Antilopini) and Equus oldowayensis (Equini), to infer dietary traits in each taxon. Some paleodietary changes were observed for cf. A. recki and E. oldowayensis based on tooth wear at the transition from the Lemuta to the Lower Augitic Sandstone (LAS) interval within the HWK EE sequence. Stable carbon and oxygen isotope data show no significant changes in bulk diet or hydroclimate between the Lemuta and LAS intervals. The combined tooth wear and stable isotope data suggest similar paleoecological conditions across the two HWK EE intervals, but that differences in vegetation consumed among ungulates may have resulted in changes in dietary niches. Integrating tooth wear and stable isotope analyses permits the characterization of ungulate diets and habitats at HWK EE where C4 dominated and minor mixed C3 and C4 habitats were present. Our results provide a better understanding of the paleoenvironmental conditions of the Lemuta and LAS intervals. The LAS assemblage was mostly accumulated during relatively dry periods at Olduvai Gorge when grasses were not as readily available and grazing animals may have been more nutritionally-stressed than during the formation of the Lemuta assemblage. This helps to contextualize variations in hominin and carnivore feeding behavior observed from the faunal assemblages produced during the two main occupations of the site.

In this chapter, we analyze the patterns of vicariance and dispersal in fossil horses and the relationship with the environmental changes. We found that predominance of the dispersal events over vicariant ones is consistent with the migratory habits of horses. Ancestral distribution for the Equini tribe was ranged widely across North America. This distribution could have been succeeded during the middle to late Miocene, a time of tectonic and climatic change, and an increasing number of grasslands.

Enamel patterns on the occlusal surfaces of equid teeth are asserted to have tribal-level differences. The most notable example compares the Equini and Hipparionini, where Equini have higher crowned teeth with less enamel-band complexity and less total occlusal enamel than Hipparionini. Whereas previous work has successfully quantified differences in enamel band shape by dividing the length of enamel band by the square root of the occlusal surface area (Occlusal Enamel Index, OEI), it was clear that OEI only partially removes the effect of body size. Because enamel band length scales allometrically, body size still has an influence on OEI, with larger individuals having relatively longer enamel bands than smaller individuals. Fractal dimensionality (D) can be scaled to any level, so we have used it to quantify occlusal enamel complexity in a way that allows us to get at an accurate representation of the relationship between complexity and body size. To test the hypothesis of tribal-level complexity differences between Equini and Hipparionini, we digitally traced a sample of 98 teeth, one tooth per individual; 31 Hipparionini and 67 Equini. We restricted our sampling to the P3-M2 to reduce the effect of tooth position. After calculating theDof these teeth with the fractal box method which uses the number of boxes of various sizes to calculate theDof a line, we performed at-test on the individual values ofDfor each specimen, comparing the means between the two tribes, and a phylogenetically informed generalized least squares regression (PGLS) for each tribe with occlusal surface area as the independent variable andDas the dependent variable. The slopes of both PGLS analyses were compared using at-test to determine if the same linear relationship existed between the two tribes. Thet-test between tribes was significant (p< 0.0001), suggesting differentDpopulations for each lineage. The PGLS for Hipparionini was a positive but not significant (p= 0.4912) relationship betweenDand occlusal surface area, but the relationship for Equini was significantly negative (p= 0.0177).λwas 0 for both tests, indicating no important phylogenetic signal is present in the relationship between these two characters, thus the PGLS collapses down to a non-phylogenetic generalized least squares (GLS) model. Thet-test comparing the slopes of the regressions was not significant, indicating that the two lineages could have the same relationship betweenDand occlusal surface area. Our results suggest that the two tribes have the same negative relationship betweenDand occlusal surface area but the Hipparionini are offset to higher values than the Equini. This offset reflects the divergence between the two lineages since their last common ancestor and may have constrained their ability to respond to environmental change over the Neogene, leading to the differential survival of the Equini.

Il saggio ricostruisce il rapporto tra agricoltura e allevamento che ha connotato le campagne del Mezzogiorno d’Italia nel corso del XX secolo, privilegiando il nesso tra bisogno e disponibilità di letame per la rigenerazione e conservazione della fertilità dei suoli agricoli. L’Italia meridionale è rimasta sostanzialmente estranea al processo di integrazione tra agricoltura e allevamento che, incarnato dalla diffusione delle colture foraggere e dall’intensificazione dell’allevamento bovino a carattere stallino, ha contrassegnato tra Settecento e Ottocento le campagne del Nord Europa e più tardi dell’Italia padana. Qui, nella sezione meridionale della Penisola italiana, agli inizi del Novecento le colture foraggere, a causa anche delle difficoltà ambientali, restavano confinate in ambiti assolutamente ristretti ed il patrimonio zootecnico del tutto incapace, per dimensioni, composizione per specie e sistemi di allevamento, a soddisfare i bisogni di concime organico dell’agricoltura, dominata dalla coltura cerealicola. La pastorizia ovina transumante costituiva la componente assolutamente prevalente e anche per il bestiame bovino all’esigua dotazione si univa, ad eccezione di qualche ristretta zona, il predominio quasi assoluto del sistema di allevamento brado. Questa condizione di assoluta insufficienza e di debole rapporto, quasi di separata convivenza, con la pratica agricola si è accentuata tra le due guerre, per effetto della politica agraria del fascismo. Nella seconda metà del Novecento, lo sviluppo dell’agricoltura industriale, con la crescente meccanizzazione dei processi produttivi e la forte dilatazione della concimazione chimica, e la parallela intensivazione e specializzazione produttiva dell’allevamento hanno sancito anche nel Mezzogiorno, in piena uniformità con quanto avveniva nell’Italia centro-settentrionale e in tutto l’Occidente europeo, la definitiva separazione tra le due forme di attività. This essay retraces the relation between agriculture and livestock farming having connoted the countryside of the South of Italy during the 20th century, privileging the connection between need and availability of manure for the regeneration and conservation of the agricultural soil fertility. Southern Italy has substantially remained alien to the process of integration between agriculture and livestock farming which, represented by the diffusion of the fodder cultivations and by the intensification of the stalled bovine breeding, marked between the centuries XVIII and XIX the countryside of Northern Europe and of Northern Italy later. Here, in the southern section of the Italian peninsula, at the beginning of the 20th century the fodder cultivations, also in consequence of the environmental adversities, were limited to some very restricted areas and the livestock was completely unable, owing to its dimensions, present animal species and breeding systems, to satisfy the organic fertilizer needs of the agriculture, dominated by the cereal farming. The transhumant sheep-breeding was the absolutely prevalent part and also for the bovines to the scarce quantity of animals was added, except some limited areas, the nearly absolute predominance of the wild breeding system. This condition of absolute shortage and of weak connection, almost of separate coexistence, with the agricultural work intensified between the two world wars, in consequence of the agrarian policy of Fascism. During the second half of the 20th century, the development of the industrial farming, with the mechanization of the productive processes and the growing use of the chemical fertilizers, and the simultaneous intensification and productive specialization of the livestock farming have determined also in Southern Italy, uniformly with what happened in the centre-northern Italy and in all Western Europe, the definitive separation between the two types of activity.

Four groups of equids, "Anchitheriinae," Merychippine-grade Equinae, Hipparionini, and Equini, coexisted in the middle Miocene, but only the Equini remains after 16 Myr of evolution and extinction. Each group is distinct in its occlusal enamel pattern. These patterns have been compared qualitatively but rarely quantitatively. The processes influencing the evolution of these occlusal patterns have not been thoroughly investigated with respect to phylogeny, tooth position, and climate through geologic time. We investigated Occlusal Enamel Index, a quantitative method for the analysis of the complexity of occlusal patterns. We used analyses of variance and an analysis of co-variance to test whether equid teeth increase resistive cutting area for food processing during mastication, as expressed in occlusal enamel complexity, in response to increased abrasion in their diet. Results suggest that occlusal enamel complexity was influenced by climate, phylogeny, and tooth position through time. Occlusal enamel complexity in middle Miocene to Modern horses increased as the animals experienced increased tooth abrasion and a cooling climate.

Equids are considered organisms indicating changes in climate and variations in environmental conditions. Within the Equini tribe, this sensitivity corresponds to a considerable morphological and physiological plasticity in the subgenus Equus , allowing its spread in Eurasia and North America under the most adverse and diversified climatical conditions. Also the stenonian species, E. stenonis , show a certain plasticity, and in their vast territory in North America and Eurasia have led to a variety of local forms with environmental, even more than chronological, significance. It is therefore considered opportune to institute new subspecies, in order to partially stress this plasticity of the family Equidae: E. stenonis pueblensis (=E. s. cf. vireti ) from La Puebla de Valverde (Faunistic Unit of Saint Vallier), which is a leptosomic form with a short protocone index; E. s. olivolanus (=partim E. stenonis) from Olivola and Matassino (Olivola F. U.), which is large and slender and has a still shorter PI than the former subspecies; E. caballus malatestai , from the layers of the “lower brackish limestone series” of Torre in Pietra (Rome) (stage 9), as large as E. c. mosbachensis , but with a shorter muzzle and more derived characters in the metapodials. A tentative connection was made between the morphologies of the various forms and the ecological characteristics. The compatibility of extreme environmental conditions in the Plio-Pleistocene with a higher number of taxa of equids than theoretical one, was stressed, perhaps as a consequence of the extreme fragmentation of the environment, which characterized the glacial periods.

The importance of body mass prediction from several cranial, dental and appendicular variables in living Equini are studied. Relationships between the body mass changes and the ecogeographic picture of Equini evolution are also analysed. The metapodial and phalanx variables, particularly antero-posterior diameters, are better correlated with body mass than cranial variables in living Equini. Large sized species are correlated with cold climates, open habitats and/or soft soils; small ones are correlated with warm climates, more closed habitats and/or hard soils. Pleistocene horses from Europe and Africa follow an evolutionary trend opposite to their North American counterparts, from larger sized species to smaller ones. In South America the pattern of body size is different to those of the other continents. Species of Hippidion reaching large body mass, whereas some species of Equus, E. andium, follow a diminishing trend.

The 18 m.y. history of the subfamily Equinae (exclusive of Archaeohippus and “Parahippus”) in North America consisted of a 3-m.y. radiation phase, a 9-m.y. steady-state diversity phase, and a 6-m.y. reduction phase. During the steady-state phase, species richness varied between 14 and 20, with two maxima at about 13.5 and 6.5 Ma. Species richness of the tribes Hipparionini and Equini was about equal through the middle Miocene, but hipparionines consistently had more species in the late Miocene and early Pliocene. Overall mean species duration was 3.2 m.y. (n = 50), or an average extinction rate of 0.31 m.y.-1 During the radiation phase, speciation rates were very high (0.5 to 1.4 m.y.-1), while extinction rates were low (-1). Speciation and extinction rates both averaged about 0.15 m.y.-1 during the steady-state phase, with extinction rates having more variation. Extinction rates increased fourfold during the reduction phase, while speciation rates declined slightly. Late Hemphillian extinctions affected both tribes severely, not just the three-toed hipparionines, and were correlated with global climatic change.

L’Osteocondrosi è un patologia di rilevante interesse nella medicina veterinaria ippiatrica. La sua elevata incidenza, la sua manifestazione clinica in animali giovani, il potenziale ruolo invalidante nei confronti della carriera agonistica dei soggetti atleti e l’azione predisponente all’insorgenza di osteoartrite rappresentano i presupposti delle attenzioni scientifiche rivolte alla patologia con interesse sia per la salute dell’animale sia per l’ambito economico. Molti studi di tipo clinico e sperimentale, in vivo e in vitro, sono stati dedicati alla comprensione dell’eziopatogenesi dell’Osteocondrosi ai fini di istituire iter diagnostici, regimi nutrizionali e di management preventivi e approcci terapeutici medici e chirurgici; tuttavia, il parziale raggiungimento di alcuni di questi obiettivi, come l’istituzione del protocollo diagnostico e per trattamento chirurgico, rappresenta un compromesso pragmatico, in grado di garantire una gestione parziale dell’entità patologica. Nei risultati ottenuti vanno identificati dei limiti, infatti, la patologia non è stata ancora approcciata in maniera completa a causa della parziale conoscenza dei fattori eziologici e dell’evoluzione patogenetica. Ad oggi l’Osteocondrosi viene definita come un difetto focale dell’ossificazione endocondrale ad eziologica multifattoriale; seppur non venga esclusa l’esistenza di un meccanismo primario, ancora non noto. Questo studio è volto ad approcciare l’Osteocondrosi mediante l’analisi proteomica, secondo l’indagine delle modificazioni del pattern proteico nel liquido sinoviale di cavalli affetti dalla patologia. Nella medicina umana l’analisi proteomica ha permesso di comprendere i processi molecolari alla base della fisiologia di tessuti organi così come la patogenesi di diverse malattia fino alla candidatura di alcune molecole come marker diagnostici e prognostici. Nello studio delle patologie articolari, l’approccio proteomico ha prodotto la descrizione del pattern proteico espresso in maniera differenziale in articolazioni affette da osteoartrite ed artrite reumatoide. Nella ricerca condotta, l’analisi differenziale dei gel provenienti da liquidi sinoviali sani e patologici ha evidenziato modificazioni riferibili ad alterazioni metaboliche associate ai processi di ossificazione, al turnover del tessuto cartilagineo e alla concomitanza di un processo flogistico secondario. Infine è possibile affermare che la complessità del processo eziopatogenetico alla base dell’Ostecondrosi rappresenta una materia di difficile investigazione; tuttavia, la coordinazione di studi clinici con nuove tecniche di indagine di laboratorio potrebbe fornire un quadro più completo circa i meccanismi in atto nel corso della patologia, generando dati utili per la candidatura di marker diagnostici precoci e per la comprensione dell’eziopatogenesi dell’Osteocondrosi, così da poter approcciare la malattia in maniera sistematica sia con protocolli preventivi che terapeutici. Osteochondrosis is a pathology of significant interest within equine medicine. Its significant incidence, its clinical manifestation in young horses, the potentially negative influence on the performance of equine athletes and the predisposing role with respect to the insurgence of osteoarthritis are all underlying reasons for the significant scientific attention provided to this disease in view of both animal welfare and economic implications. Several clinical and experimental trials, both in-vivo and in-vitro, have been devoted to the understanding of the etiopathogenesis of osteochondrosis in order to indentify appropriate diagnostic paths, nutritional regimes, preventive management protocols as well as medical and surgical therapies. Despite all this, the achievement of some of these objectives, such as the definition of a diagnostic protocol and an approach for surgical treatment, offers a pragmatic compromise which only allows partial management of the disease. Results so far obtained feature significant limitations as the pathology has not yet been approached in a comprehensive manner given the limited understanding of its etiology and pathogenesis. To date, osteochondrosis is defined as a focal defect in endochondral ossification with multifactoral etiology, despite the fact that a possible primary mechanism, while not yet understood, is not yet excluded. The present research is aimed to explore osteochondrosis through the lens of proteomic analysis, following the identification of changes in the protein patterns of synovial fluid of affected horses. In human medicine, proteomic analysis is continuously extending its areas of application and significantly contributed to the understanding of the molecular processes that regulate the physiology of many organs and tissues, the clarification of several pathogenetic mechanisms and the identifications of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. The usefulness of proteomic analysis in approaching joint pathologies is witnessed by several studies that aimed to the determination of total protein expression in healthy joints as well as those affected by either osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. The differential analysis of the samples from healthy and pathological synovial fluids highlighted modifications which were possibly related to metabolic alterations induced by the ossification process, the cartilaginous turn-over and the parallel presence of secondary inflammation. In conclusion, it is possible to state, on the basis of both the results here obtained and the current state of the art, that the complexity of the etiopathogenesis of osteochondrosis is difficult to explore. However, the combination of clinical trials with new laboratory methodologies could possibly offer a more comprehensive picture of the mechanisms at play in the course of the pathology, generate useful data for the identification of early diagnostic markers and advance the understanding of the etiopathogenesis of the disease. The pursuit of these ambitious objectives could possibly lead to approaching the disease with more systematic and effective preventive and therapeutic protocols.

Najstariji pronađeni fosilni ostaci prvih predaka današnjeg modernog konja ukazuju na Eohipusa (Hyracotheriuma) koji je živio između 50-60 milijuna godina prije nove ere. Fosilni ostaci prikazuju malog sisavca, veličine lisice koji se hranio lišćem. U slijedećih milijun godina, tijekom evolucije, razvilo se više tipova ove životinje od kojih su opstali samo oni koji su se uspješno prilagodili drastičnim klimatskim i geografskim promjenama. Tek prije pet milijuna godina razvio se Pliohippus, predak modernog Equusa, kakav se poznaje danas. Ova vrsta krupnijeg sisavca raširila se po svim kontinentima, budući da su tijekom evolucije razvili prilagodbu na gotovo sve uvjete okoliša. Današnji konj pripada redu neparnoprstaša (Perissodactyla), kao dio nadreda kopitara (Ungulata), zajedno sa nosorogom i tapirom, čija je zajednička odlika postojanje samo jednog nožnog prsta. Osnovno je obilježje konja tijekom evolucije, redukcija broja prstiju. Stoga, danas, sve vrste imaju samo jedan prst kojeg koriste (Monodactylie), a to je treći prst, dok su se ostali povukli i postoje još samo kao rudimenti. Za takav razvoj bilo je potrebno 50 milijuna godina. Dakle, izvorni oblik konja je Hyracotherium, od kojeg su se razvile tri linije, međutim samo se Orohippus nastavio dalje razvijati. Njega nasljeđuje Haplohippus i Epihippus. Messohippus evoluira u Miohippusa koji se razvio u dvije skupine, a to su Equinae i Anchitheriinae. Equinama pripadaju Kalobatippus, Arhaeohippus i Parahippus. Parahippus evoluira u Meryhippusa koji se dalje razvija u Protohippine, Hipparionine i Equine. Od te tri skupine opstali su samo Equini. Razvili su se u sedam skupina, a to su Dinohippus, Hippidion, Onohippidion, Astrohippus, Pliohippus i Equus. Od sedam razvojnih skupina Equina, daljnji evolucijski put nastavila je samo porodica Equus.

This work aimed to survey the slaughtering-linked plasma modifications of some stress-related hormones in horses subject to butcher standardized procedures. The blood samples of 12 males horses, ageing from 3 to 5 years, have been collected before slaughtering, in lairage, and after stunning by captive bolt gun, during exsanguination. The plasma levels of beta-endorphin, cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine have been assayed by EIA. The results indicate that beta-endorphin did not significantly increase after stunning, while cortisol (P

Gli avvelenamenti da piante tossiche nei grossi animali domestici sono alquanto frequenti; spesso, però, il medico veterinario ha poca dimestichezza con le specie vegetali che possono risultare pericolose per gli animali domestici. Nel presente lavoro, dopo aver illustrato le piante tossiche spontanee che più requentemente si riscontrano sul territorio italiano e quelle ornamentali utilizzate in parchi e giardini, ne vengono descritti i principi tossici, la intomatologia in corso di avvelenamento e l’eventuale terapia da intraprendere.

Confronto fra le presenze degli equini nelle Valli Savena, Setta e Sambro fra il censimento del 1930 e oggi.

The genetic structure of Ventasso Horse (VH) was investigated using 12 microsatellites. The analyses were carried out on 117 VH individuals and the results were compared with those obtained analysing 11 other breeds reared in Italy. All microsatellites were polymorphic in VH and in the other breeds. A total of 124 alleles (from 6 to 19 alleles per microsatellite) were detected. Average heterozygosity was 0.743 in VH and ranged from 0.613 to 0.759 in the other breeds. The mean FST value had an average value of 0.0932. Genetic distances were calculated using Nei’s standard genetic distance (Ds). The smallest Ds values were found between VH and Anglo-Arab, Thoroughbred, Maremmano and Lipizzan horse breeds. Phylogenetic trees constructed using neighbour-joining method showed two clear separate clusters: the first includes Bardigiano, Haflinger and Italian Heavy Draught Horse, the second contains the other 9 breeds.