Which land mammal is the only one that does not have paw pads?

Of all the land mammals that have paws, which land mammal is the only one that does not have paw pads?

Mammals are vertebrate (backboned) animals with fur or hair, a neocortex (a region of the brain) and the females have mammary glands to feed milk to their young. Mammals include humans, cats, dogs, horses, bears, rats, mice, rabbits, hares, weasels, elephants, etc. 

A paw is an animal’s foot with claws and paw pads. 

Not every mammal has paws. Ungulate (hoofed) mammals do not have paws – they have hoofs (or hooves).

Paw pads are hairless, usually dark-coloured or pink-coloured cushions on the soles of the feet of some land mammals. Paw pads help animals to grip the ground, making it easier to walk and run over its land terrain.

Not every mammal with paws has paw pads.

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Gaur

The Gaur (Bos gaurus) is a large bovine ungulate (hoofed) mammal. It is also known as the Indian Bison.  

The Gaur is a species of wild cattle with short, narrow, pointed, black-tipped horns and a prominent ridge on its back. It has large ears. It has short, glossy, dark-brown fur, which becomes almost black as it ages. Its head is often ashy-grey and its nose is whitish. It does not have a distinct dewlap (loose skin under its chin) like other bovines have. The female is lighter brown with thinner horns. 

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Eastern Bongo

The Eastern Bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus isaaci) is a large, critically endangered ungulate (hoofed) mammal. It is a bovine antelope. It is also known as the Mountain Bongo.

The Eastern Bongo has reddish-brown fur, black and white markings, 10-15 white vertical stripes, and long, slightly-spiralled horns (they twist only once). Both the male and the female have hollow horns, but the male has longer horns. It has a white stripe between its eyes and two white spots on its cheeks. It has large ears. It has a black nose and white lips. 

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Saiga Antelope

The Saiga Antelope (Saiga tatarica) is a critically endangered ungulate (hoofed) mammal.

The Saiga Antelope has yellow-to reddish fur in summer and grey-brown fur in winter. It has longer hair in winter than in summer. It has a long mane of hair on its neck. It has a big, rounded nose with closely-spaced nostrils. It has long ears. Only the male has horns, which are thick with 12-20 rings. 

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Nilgai

The Nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus) is a bovine ungulate (hoofed) mammal. It is an antelope. It is also known as a Blue Bull. 

The Nilgai has long thin legs and a sloping back. The male is bluish-grey and the female and juvenile are orange-brown. It has a white patch on its throat, and a short crest of hair along its neck. It has white facial spots. It has a tufted tail. Only the male has horns. 

It grows to 100-150 centimetres (39-59 inches) at shoulder height. Its tail is about 54 centimetres (21 inches) long. The male’s horns are 15-24 centimetres (6-9 inches) long. 

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What are the similarities between the Alpaca, the Llama, and the Vicuna?

What are the similarities between the Alpaca (Vicugna pacos), the Llama (Lama glama), and the Vicuna (Vicugna vicugna)? 

The Alpaca, the Llama, and the Vicuna are all ungulate (hoofed) camelid mammals. They are related to the Camel.

The Alpaca, the Llama, and the Vicuna have soft sheep-like wool. The Alpaca has the second softest wool and the Vicuna has the softest wool.

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Rocky Mountain Goat

The Rocky Mountain Goat (Oreamnos americanus) is an even-toed ungulate (hoofed) mammal. It is related to the Blue Sheep (Pseudois nayaur).

The Rocky Mountain Goat has a white double coat of fur – an undercoat and an outer layer. The undercoat has fine, dense wool and the outer layer has longer, hollow hairs. Both the male and the female have beards and long black horns. It has orange-brown eyes.

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Armenian Mouflon

The Armenian Mouflon (Ovis orientalis gmelini) is an endangered wild sheep, and an ungulate (hoofed) mammal. It is also known as the Armenian Sheep, Armenian Red Sheep, Iranian Red Sheep, or Trans-Caucasian Sheep. 

The Armenian Mouflon looks like a sheep, but with reddish-brown fur, like a goat. Its underbelly is white. It has cloven (split) hoofs. It has large brown eyes. The male has wide, ridged horns, like the horns of a ram. It has small triangular ears. 

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Woodland Caribou

The Woodland Caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) is an ungulate (hoofed) mammal in the deer species. It is also known as the Reindeer.

The Caribou varies in size and colour, from light to dark. The Woodland Caribou has dark-brown fur. Its coat had two layers of fur – a thick woolly undercoat and a longer-haired overcoat. It has large feet with crescent-shaped, cloven (split) hooves, which are wide for walking on snow.

Both the male and the female grow antlers, although the female has smaller antlers. As antlers grow, they become covered in thick dark-brown velvet. The Woodland Caribou loses it antlers and grows a new pair each year.

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What’s the difference between the Warthog and the Wild Boar?

What is the difference between the Central African Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus massaicus) and the Central European Wild Boar (Sus scrofa scrofa)?

The Central African Warthog and the Central European Wild Boar are both medium-sized heavy-set ungulate (hoofed) mammals, but the Warthog is pig-like and the Boar is a pig.

The Central African Warthog has two pairs of upward-curving ivory tusks protruding from its mouth. One pair of tusks is the upper pair, and the second pair of tusks is the lower pair, which is shorter than the upper pair. The male Central European Wild Boar has ivory canine teeth which protrude from its mouth, and the female has smaller canine teeth.

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Central European Wild Boar

The Central European Wild Boar (Sus scrofa scrofa) is a medium-sized ungulate (hoofed) mammal, and a subspecies of the Wild Boar (Sus scrofa). It is also known as the Eurasian Wild Pig. Regionally, it is known as the Western Wild Boar. It is a suid.

The Central European Wild Boar is dark grey-black or rusty-brown in colour. Its fur is thick and coarse and it also has thick underwool. The male has a thin mane along his back, and the female does not have a mane. It has a high skull and a big head. It has a short, thick neck, and a hump behind its shoulders. Its eyes are small and dark. The male has canine teeth which protrude from its mouth, and the female has smaller canine teeth.

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Bornean Bearded Pig

The Bornean Bearded Pig (Sus barbatus) is a medium-sized ungulate (hoofed) mammal. It is endangered, with the species protected in some zoos around the world. The photographed pig is from the London Zoo.

The Bornean Bearded Pig has a dark-grey barrel-shaped body with a tassel, or tuft, on its tail. Its face has a prominent whitish beard of coarse hair. It has short legs and drooping ears and a blunt snout (nose).

It measures about 60 centimetres (24 inches) in length.

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Caucasian Wisent (Bison)

The Caucasian Wisent (Bison bonasus caucasicus) is a subspecies of the European Bison that lived in the Caucasus Mountains. Before its extinction, the last male Caucasian Wisent bred with cows from the lowland species of the European Bison (Bison bonasus bonasus).

In the 1940s and in 1959, a group of Caucasian Wisent and American Bison (Bison bison) hybrids were released into the Caucasian region, which bred with the Caucasian lowland hybrid species to form a single group. In 2000, zoologists categorized them as a new mountain species, called Bison bonasus montanus. However, the new category has not been confirmed.  

The hybrid Caucasian Wisent is an ungulate mammal of the bovine family. It is an artiodactyl, because it is cloven hooved.

The hybrid Caucasian Wisent is broad and muscular, with a brown coat of fur, and a massive head with horns.

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Highland Pony

The Highland Pony (Equus ferus caballus) is an ungulate (hoofed) equine mammal, that is taxonomically the same as a horse. It is related to the Shetland Pony, the donkey, and the zebra.

The Highland Pony has a short, compact body with short legs. It can have various shades, such as mouse-coloured, brown, grey, black, and cream. Its mane is long and silky to protect it from the cold winters. It is an odd-toed ungulate, with a hoof that has one toe.

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