Day 9: The Jongojiverse Evolution of Ponies

As with everything, horse evolution isn’t a straight line. It only appears so because out of all of them, only one genus, Equus, survives today. As with our world, the “domestic” form of horse (Equus ferus caballus) came from wild ancestors, of whom, only Przewalski’s Horse are alive today in greater numbers there than here. They gradually replaced the Hipparion (Hipparion prostylum), which today survive in an isolated pocket up north.

From either island environments or areas such as deserts and mountains, came the Earth Pony (Equus caballus). With their smaller stature allowing them to inhabit habitats a Horse doesn’t inhabit gradually outcompeted them, leaving a few relict populations and metropolis’. It became more so as they evolved into other forms.

Pegasi (Equus caballus perseus) and Sleipnirs (Equus caballus odinson) can trace their evolution together. Pegasi first developed wings to protect a few soft spots on their backs. Then comes display and finally flight, the wings growing larger each generation. Sleipnirs took a different route, forsaking flight for superior land speed as they developed their fourth pair of legs. Some parts of their common ancestor remain such as large lungs to give them endurance.

In my headcanon, Unicorns (Equus caballus arcana) are more woolly. Being in mountain environments such as Canterlot demands more protection from the wind. I mentioned in a thread post regarding the nature of Unicorn horns after everyone watched Applejack’s Day Off.

After watching the episode, I can safely say that unicorn horns are made of hair. After all, ponies are horses, which are odd-toed ungulates, which also include tapirs and rhinos, which also have horn made of hair with the same color as their skin or hair and can grow back as long as the area supporting the horn isn't damaged or removed. The only problem with my hypothesis is that can a rhino horn get wrinkly in similar conditions?

I should’ve been a bit cautious with perissodactyls; the horns of extinct brontotheres are extensions of their nostrils.

Aquatic pony forms are very diverse based on trophic level. Merponies such as Diver have a niche like that of hippos, Sirens like the Dazzlings a niche like that of seals and placodonts, and sea ponies like those of dolphins. How are they able to develop into aquatic forms when it would otherwise take millions of years? Magic; they were still exploring with its potential, giving them the ability remain underwater for longer periods of time (a similar spell to the one Twilight uses whenever she and her friends visit Cloudsdale).