Spindly legs. Mega antlers. Huge nose hanging way over the bottom lip. No wonder people draw cartoons of the weirdly shaped moose.

God designed the moose to stick its head into water to look for food. But what about those four-inch nostrils? Those would let an awful lot of water in . . . if God hadn’t also designed the moose to close its nose. No nose plugs required! Muscles and fat shut the openings when they sense water pressure.

What’s an Ungulate?

Moose are ungulates (UHN-gyuh-lits). You might be one too if . . .

• You have four legs.
• You’re a mammal.
• You eat plants.
• You’ve got hooves.

Based on this definition, how many ungulates can you think of?

Scientists split ungulates into two groups:

Odd-toed. Earth has 19 species of these, including horses, zebras, donkeys, onagers, tapirs, and kiangs. (Did you know many of these animals technically have just one toe? We call the tissue covering it the “hoof.” Hooves act a lot like your fingernails and toenails.) Odd-toed superpowers:

• Their intestines ferment and digest nutritious plant food. (On the other hand, they can live only in places where such food grows abundantly.)
• Many can run like the wind.

Even-toed. This much larger group includes more than 240 species such as cattle, sheep, and deer. Even-toed superpowers:

• They have great digestive systems and can digest plants toxic to other creatures.
• They help people a lot. Where would the world of eating, hunting, and working be without cattle, sheep, and deer?