History and Etymology for artiodactyl

from the base of New Latin Artiodactyla, division of ungulates, from Greek ártios "right, fitting, even (of numbers)" (derivative from árti "just now," arti- "fitting, correct") + -o- -o- + New Latin -dactyla, neuter plural of -dactylus "having digits (of the kind specified)," borrowed from Greek -daktylos, adjective derivative of dáktylos "finger, toe" — more at art entry 1, dactyl

Note: The taxon Artiodactyla was introduced, along with Perissodactyla (see perissodactyl), by the British biologist and paleontologist Richard Owen (1804-92) in "Description of Teeth and portions of Jaws of two extinct Anthracotherioid Quadrupeds … with an attempt to develop cuvier's idea of the Classification of Pachyderms by the Number of their Toes," communication of November 3, 1847, published in The Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, vol. 4 (1848), pp. 103-41.

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