pecoran

Pecora is a clade of hoofed, ruminant mammals within the order Artiodactyla and the suborder Ruminantia. It includes the major horned ruminants such as Bovidae (antelopes, cattle, goats, sheep), Cervidae (deer), Giraffidae (giraffes and okapis), Moschidae (musk deer), and Antilocapridae (pronghorn). The group is distinguished from Tragulina, the earlier ruminants, by a combination of dental and skeletal traits and by a more specialized digestive system adapted for rumination.

They are herbivorous, typically hoofed mammals that chew cud and possess a complex stomach for fermenting fibrous vegetation. Common dental features include reduced or absent upper incisors and canines in many lineages, with molars adapted for processing forage (often selenodont in form).

Horns and antlers in pecorans show notable diversity. Bovidae possess true horns with a bone core encased in a permanent keratin sheath. Giraffidae have ossicones rather than true horns. Cervidae bear antlers that are grown and shed seasonally. Moschidae musk deer lack horns and instead have elongated canine tusks used in display and combat. Antilocapridae (pronghorn) exhibit horn-like structures with a keratin sheath that is shed annually, while the bony core remains.

The Pecora lineage originated in the Paleogene, with extensive diversification during the Miocene. Today pecoran species are distributed across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, with different families occupying varied habitats from forests to open grasslands. In modern classifications, Pecora is treated as a cohesive clade within Ruminantia, though historical frameworks have differed on rank and composition.