Artiodactyla

Evolution Uintatherium anceps Cladogram showing relations within Ungulata Perissodactyla and Artiodactyla include the majority of large land mammals.

The aquatic Cetaceans evolved from even-toed ungulate ancestors, and modern taxonomic classification therefore subsumes Artiodactyla and Cetacea into Cetiartiodactyla.

These methods were performed between even-toed ungulates and cetaceans with the surprising result that the closest living relatives of the whales and hippopotamuses is the paraphyletic group Artiodactyla.

The term was coined by merging the name for the two orders, Cetacea and Artiodactyla, into a single word.