ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses ungulates, much of the basic biology of growth which discussion applies to all members of the animal kingdom. Growth is not simply the result of adding new material to already existing material; it results from the interaction of anabolic and catabolic processes jointly referred to as turnover. The study of relative growth has made it clear that most parts of the body are programmed as to their size relative to the sizes of all the other parts of the body. Development is in no way a haphazard event; it follows genetically defined lines towards an adult shape which phylogeny has indicated to be the most suitable for the environmental niche which the animal expects to occupy. Most development in mammalian herbivores occurs in the prenatal and immediate postnatal period. In mammals, the most vulnerable anabolic period is spent inside the mother's body, warm and amply supplied with nutrients.
