Cetartiodactyla

Cetartiodactyls Temporal range: late Palaeocene - Recent
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Infraclass:	Eutheria
Superorder:	Laurasiatheria
(unranked):	Cetartiodactyla
Orders
Order: Cetacea Suborders: Suina Tylopoda Ruminantia Family: Hippopotamidae

Humpback Whale breaching.

Pod of hippopotamuses, Luangwa Valley, Zambia.

Cetartiodactyla is the taxonomical superorder which includes whales (and dolphins) and even-toed ungulates. The name was created by merging the name for the two orders, Cetacea and Artiodactyla, into a single word. Cetartiodactyla is commonly used because it is thought that whales evolved from the artiodactyls. Because of this, their closest living land relative is thought to be the hippopotamus.