Expert: Dana Krempels, Ph.D. - 6/10/2007

Question
If humans had hooves instead of feet would they still be able to walk (let's say they are born with hooves)?

Answer
Dear John,

If a human was born with hooves instead of feet, it would be the result of a mutation so bizarre that the rest of the foot and leg would probably not be normal, either.

The hoof of an ungulate (hoofed animal) is homologous to the middle fingernail of your finger.  So it would be pretty much impossible for a hoof to develop from the embryonic beginnings of a human foot unless it grew into a hoof instead of a fingernail.  The foot itself cannot simply turn into a hoof.  There are just too many complex bones, muscles and other components.

If you were to amputate a human foot and somehow miraculously be able to replace it with a hoof, then the human might be able to learn to walk.  But it would be like trying to learn to walk on a huge fingertip/fingernail attached directly to the ankle, which is not at all what a horse or other ungulate does.  

A foot is not homologous to a hoof, so the question is just about impossible to answer with any certainty.

Sorry!

Dana