Mule

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Mule
Grey Mule (7104389757).jpg
Domesticated
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Equidae
Tribe: Equini
Genus: Equus
Species:
E. africanus asinus ♂ × E. ferus caballus ♀

The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). [1] [2] The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two possible first-generation hybrids between them, the mule is easier to obtain and more common than the hinny, which is the offspring of a male horse (a stallion) and a female donkey (a jenny).

Contents

Mules vary widely in size, and may be of any color. They are more patient, hardier and longer-lived than horses, and are perceived as less obstinate and more intelligent than donkeys. [3] : 5 

Terminology

A female mule that has oestrus cycles, and so could, in theory, carry a foetus, is called a "molly" or "Molly mule", although the term is sometimes used to refer to female mules in general. A male mule is properly called a "horse mule", although it is often called a "john mule", which is the correct term for a gelded mule. A young male mule is called a "mule colt", and a young female is called a "mule filly". [4]

History

Painting in the Tomb of Nebamun at Thebes, showing a pair of animals which could be mules or onagers Tomb of Nebamun, horse and chariot.jpg
Painting in the Tomb of Nebamun at Thebes, showing a pair of animals which could be mules or onagers
Ancient Greek rhyton in the shape of the head of a mule, made by Brygos, early fifth century BC, Jerome Carcopino Museum, Aleria, Corsica Rhyton en forme de tete d'equide01.JPG
Ancient Greek rhyton in the shape of the head of a mule, made by Brygos, early fifth century BC, Jérôme Carcopino Museum, Aleria, Corsica

Breeding of mules became possible only when the range of the domestic horse, which originated in Central Asia in about 3500 BC, extended into that of the domestic ass, which originated in north-eastern Africa. This overlap probably occurred in Anatolia and Mesopotamia in Western Asia, and mules were bred there before 1000 BC. [5] : 37 

A painting in the Tomb of Nebamun at Thebes, dating from approximately 1350 BC, shows a chariot drawn by a pair of animals which have been variously identified as onagers, [6] as mules [5] : 37  or as hinnies. [7] : 96  Mules were present in Israel and Judah in the time of King David. [5] : 37  There are many representations of them in Mesopotamian works of art dating from the first millennium BC. Among the bas-reliefs depicting the Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal from the North Palace of Nineveh is a clear and detailed image of two mules loaded with nets for hunting. [7] : 96  [8]

Homer noted their arrival in Asia Minor in the Iliad in 800 BC. [9]

Christopher Columbus allegedly brought mules to the New World. [10] [ better source needed ]

Mule and Ass by Hendrik Goltzius or Hieronymus Wierix, 1578 Mula et Asinus 1578.jpg
Mule and Ass by Hendrik Goltzius or Hieronymus Wierix, 1578

George Washington bred mules at his Mount Vernon home. At the time, they were not common in the United States, but Washington understood their value, as they were "more docile than donkeys and cheap to maintain." [11] In the nineteenth century, they were used in various capacities as draught animals – on farms, especially where clay made the soil slippery and sticky; pulling canal boats; and famously for pulling, often in teams of 20 or more animals, wagonloads of borax out of Death Valley, California from 1883 to 1889. The wagons were among the largest ever pulled by draught animals, designed to carry 10 short tons (9 metric tons) of borax ore at a time. [12]

Mules were used by armies to transport supplies, occasionally as mobile firing platforms for smaller cannons, and to pull heavier field guns with wheels over mountainous trails such as in Afghanistan during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. [13]

In the second half of the twentieth century, widespread use of mules declined in industrialised countries. The use of mules for farming and for transportation of agricultural products largely gave way to steam-, then diesel-powered, tractors and lorries.[ citation needed ] On 5 May 2003 Idaho Gem, a mule foal cloned by nuclear transfer of cells from foetal material, was born at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. [14] : 2924  [15] Neither an equid nor a hybrid animal had been cloned before. [14] : 2924  [15]

Characteristics

Loading mules, from Eleven Years in the Rocky Mountains and a Life on the Frontier by Frances Fuller Victor, 1887 Mule packing.png
Loading mules, from Eleven Years in the Rocky Mountains and a Life on the Frontier by Frances Fuller Victor, 1887

In general terms, in both the mule and the hinny, the foreparts and head of the animal are similar to those of the father sire, while the hindparts and tail tend to resemble those of the dam. [5] : 36  A mule is generally larger than a hinny, with longer ears and a heavier head; the tail is usually covered with long hair like that of its mare mother. [5] : 37  A mule has the thin limbs, small narrow hooves and short mane of the donkey, while its height, the shape of the neck and body, and the uniformity of its coat and teeth are more similar to those of the horse. [16]

Mules vary widely in size, from small miniature mules under 125 cm (50 in) to large and powerful draught mules standing up to 180 cm (70 in) at the withers. [17] : 86  The median weight range is between about 370 and 460 kg (820 and 1000 lb). [18]

The coat may be of any color seen in the horse or in the donkey. Mules usually display the light points commonly seen in donkeys: pale or mealy areas on the belly and the insides of the thighs, on the muzzle, and around the eyes. They often have primitive markings such as dorsal stripe, shoulder stripe or zebra stripes on the legs. [5] : 37 

The mule exhibits hybrid vigor. [19] Charles Darwin wrote: "The mule always appears to me a most surprising animal. That a hybrid should possess more reason, memory, obstinacy, social affection, powers of muscular endurance, and length of life, than either of its parents, seems to indicate that art has here outdone nature". [20]

The mule inherits from the donkey the traits of intelligence, sure-footedness, toughness, endurance, disposition, and natural cautiousness. From the horse it inherits speed, conformation, and agility. [21] : 5–6, 8  Mules are reputed to exhibit a higher cognitive intelligence than their parent species, but robust scientific evidence to back up these claims is lacking. Preliminary data exist from at least two evidence-based studies, but they rely on a limited set of specialized cognitive tests and a small number of subjects. [22] [23] Mules are generally taller at the shoulder than donkeys and have better endurance than horses, although a lower top speed. [22]

In the early twentieth century the mule was preferred to the horse as a pack animal – its skin is harder and less sensitive than that of a horse, and it is better able to bear heavy weights. [16]

Fertility

A mule has 63 chromosomes, intermediate between the 64 of the horse and the 62 of the donkey. [24] Mules are usually infertile for this reason. [25]

Pregnancy is rare, but can occasionally occur naturally, as well as through embryo transfer. A few mare mules have produced offspring when mated with a horse or donkey stallion. [26] [27] Herodotus gives an account of such an event as an ill omen of Xerxes' invasion of Greece in 480 BC: "There happened also a portent of another kind while he was still at Sardis—a mule brought forth young and gave birth to a mule" (Herodotus The Histories 7:57), and a mule's giving birth was a frequently recorded portent in antiquity, although scientific writers also doubted whether it was really possible (see e.g. Aristotle, Historia animalium, 6.24; Varro, De re rustica, 2.1.28). Between 1527 and 2002 approximately sixty such births were reported. [27] In Morocco in early 2002 and Colorado in 2007, mare mules produced colts. [27] [28] [29] Blood and hair samples from the Colorado birth verified that the mother was indeed a mule and the foal was indeed her offspring. [29]

A 1939 article in the Journal of Heredity describes two offspring of a fertile mare mule named "Old Bec," which was owned at the time by Texas A&M University in the late 1920s. One of the foals was a female, sired by a jack. Unlike her mother, she was sterile. The other, sired by a five-gaited Saddlebred stallion, exhibited no characteristics of any donkey. That horse, a stallion, was bred to several mares, which gave birth to live foals that showed no characteristics of the donkey. [30] In a more recent instance, a group from the Federal University of Minas Gerais in 1995 described a female mule that was pregnant for a seventh time, having previously produced two donkey sires, two foals with the typical 63 chromosomes of mules, and several horse stallions that had produced four foals. The three of the latter available for testing each bore 64 horse-like chromosomes. These foals phenotypically resembled horses, though they bore markings absent from the sire's known lineages, and one had ears noticeably longer than those typical of her sire's breed. The elder two horse-like foals had proved fertile at the time of publication, with their progeny being typical of horses. [31]

Use

A 20-mule team in Death Valley, California 20 Mule Team in Death Valley.jpg
A 20-mule team in Death Valley, California

While a few mules can carry live weight up to 160 kg (353 lb), the superiority of the mule becomes apparent in their additional endurance. [32] In general, a mule can be packed with dead weight up to 20% of its body weight, or around 90 kg (198 lb). [32] Although it depends on the individual animal, mules trained by the Army of Pakistan are reported to be able to carry up to 72 kg (159 lb) and walk 26 km (16.2 mi) without resting. [33] The average equine in general can carry up to roughly 30% of its body weight in live weight, such as a rider. [34]

About 3.5 million donkeys and mules are slaughtered each year for meat worldwide. [35]

Mule trains have been part of working portions of transportation links as recently as 2005 by the World Food Programme, [36] and are still used extensively to transport cargo in rugged, roadless regions.[ citation needed ]

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reports that China was the top market for mules in 2003, closely followed by Mexico and many Central and South American nations.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horse breed</span> Selectively bred populations of domesticated horses

A horse breed is a selectively bred population of domesticated horses, often with pedigrees recorded in a breed registry. However, the term is sometimes used in a broader sense to define landrace animals of a common phenotype located within a limited geographic region, or even feral "breeds" that are naturally selected. Depending on definition, hundreds of "breeds" exist today, developed for many different uses. Horse breeds are loosely divided into three categories based on general temperament: spirited "hot bloods" with speed and endurance; "cold bloods," such as draft horses and some ponies, suitable for slow, heavy work; and "warmbloods," developed from crosses between hot bloods and cold bloods, often focusing on creating breeds for specific riding purposes, particularly in Europe.

Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses. Furthermore, modern breeding management and technologies can increase the rate of conception, a healthy pregnancy, and successful foaling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hybrid (biology)</span> Offspring of cross-species reproduction

In biology, a hybrid is the offspring resulting from combining the qualities of two organisms of different varieties, species or genera through sexual reproduction. Generally, it means that each cell has genetic material from two different organisms, whereas an individual where some cells are derived from a different organism is called a chimera. Hybrids are not always intermediates between their parents, but can show hybrid vigor, sometimes growing larger or taller than either parent. The concept of a hybrid is interpreted differently in animal and plant breeding, where there is interest in the individual parentage. In genetics, attention is focused on the numbers of chromosomes. In taxonomy, a key question is how closely related the parent species are.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donkey</span> Domesticated animal used for transportation

The donkey is a domesticated equine. It derives from the African wild ass, Equus africanus, and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, Equus africanus asinus, or as a separate species, Equus asinus. It was domesticated in Africa some 5000–7000 years ago, and has been used mainly as a working animal since that time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Onager</span> Species of mammal

The onager, also known as hemione or Asiatic wild ass, is a species of the family Equidae native to Asia. A member of the subgenus Asinus, the onager was described and given its binomial name by German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas in 1775. Six subspecies have been recognized, two of which are extinct.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hinny</span> Domestic horse–donkey hybrid

A hinny is a domestic equine hybrid, the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey. It is the reciprocal cross to the more common mule, which is the product of a male donkey and a female horse. The hinny is distinct from the mule both in physiology and temperament as a consequence of genomic imprinting and is also less common.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byerley Turk</span> 17th- and 18th-century stallion and one of the foundation stallions of the Thoroughbred breed

The Byerley Turk, also spelled Byerly Turk, was the earliest of three stallions that were the founders of the modern Thoroughbred horse racing bloodstock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gelding</span> Castrated horse or other male equine

A gelding is a castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. The term is also used with certain other animals and livestock, such as domesticated camels. By comparison, the equivalent term for a castrated male bull would be ox, or a wether for rams and billy goats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zebroid</span> Offspring of a zebra and any other equine

A zebroid is the offspring of any cross between a zebra and any other equine to create a hybrid. In most cases, the sire is a zebra stallion. The offspring of a donkey sire and zebra dam, called a donkra, and the offspring of a horse sire and a zebra dam, called a hebra, do exist, but are rare and are usually sterile. Zebroids have been bred since the 19th century. Charles Darwin noted several zebra hybrids in his works.

<i>Equus</i> (genus) Genus of mammals which includes horses, donkeys, and zebras

Equus is a genus of mammals in the family Equidae, which includes horses, asses, and zebras. Within the Equidae, Equus is the only recognized extant genus, comprising seven living species. Like Equidae more broadly, Equus has numerous extinct species known only from fossils. The genus most likely originated in North America and spread quickly to the Old World. Equines are odd-toed ungulates with slender legs, long heads, relatively long necks, manes, and long tails. All species are herbivorous, and mostly grazers, with simpler digestive systems than ruminants but able to subsist on lower-quality vegetation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stud (animal)</span> Registered animal retained for breeding

A stud animal is a registered animal retained for breeding. The terms for the male of a given animal species usually imply that the animal is intact—that is, not castrated—and therefore capable of siring offspring. A specialized vocabulary exists for de-sexed animals and those animals used in grading up to a purebred status.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stallion</span> Male horse that has not been castrated

A stallion is a male horse that has not been gelded (castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cresty" neck, as well as a somewhat more muscular physique as compared to female horses, known as mares, and castrated males, called geldings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mare</span> Female horse

A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four years old. The word can also be used for other female equine animals, particularly mules and zebras, but a female donkey is usually called a "jenny". A broodmare is a mare used for breeding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horse behavior</span>

Horse behavior is best understood from the view that horses are prey animals with a well-developed fight-or-flight response. Their first reaction to a threat is often to flee, although sometimes they stand their ground and defend themselves or their offspring in cases where flight is untenable, such as when a foal would be threatened.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poitevin horse</span> French breed of horse

The Poitevin or Poitou is a French breed of draft horse. It is named for its area of origin, the former province of Poitou in west-central France, now a part of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It was formed in the seventeenth century when horses of Flemish or Dutch origin, brought to the area by engineers working to drain the Marais Poitevin, interbred with local horses. Although it has the size and conformation of a draft horse, the Poitevin has never been bred for draft abilities, and has been little used for draft work. Its principal traditional use was the production of mules. Poitevin mares were put to jacks of the large Baudet du Poitou breed of donkey; the resulting Poitevin mules were in demand for agricultural and other work in many parts of the world, including Russia and the United States. In the early twentieth century there were some 50,000 brood mares producing between 18,000 and 20,000 mules per year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thoroughbred breeding theories</span> Breeding theories to produce better Thoroughbred racehorses

Thoroughbred breeding theories, or racehorse theories, are used by horse breeders in an attempt to arrange matings that produce progeny successful in horse racing. Bloodstock experts also rely on these theories when purchasing young horses or breeding stock. A basic understanding of these theories can also help the racing public understand a horse's theoretical genetic potential. The breeding theories stem from the belief that careful analysis of bloodlines can lend predictability to breeding outcomes. A well-designed mating increases the probability of the offspring's success, although many other factors also come into play.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baudet du Poitou</span> Breed of donkey

The Baudet du Poitou, also called the Poitevin or Poitou donkey, is a French breed of donkey. It is one of the largest breeds, and jacks were bred to mares of the Poitevin horse breed to produce Poitevin mules, which were formerly in worldwide demand for agricultural and other work. The Baudet has a distinctive coat, which hangs in long, ungroomed locks or cadenettes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glossary of equestrian terms</span> List of definitions of terms and concepts related to horses

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann T. Bowling</span> American geneticist (1943–2000)

Ann Trommershausen Bowling was an American scientist who was one of the world's leading geneticists in the study of horses, conducting research in the areas of molecular genetics and cytogenetics. She was a major figure in the development of testing to determine animal parentage, first with blood typing in the 1980s and then DNA testing in the 1990s. She later became known for her studies of hereditary diseases in horses and equine coat color genetics, as well as research on horse evolution and the development of horse breeds. She studied the population genetics of feral horses, did considerable work to help preserve the Przewalski's horse, and was one of the founding members of the international project to map the horse genome. She was an adjunct professor at the University of California, Davis (UCD), and at the time of her death in 2000 was the executive associate director of the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory (VGL) there. Her unexpected death on December 8, 2000, at age 57 was attributed to a massive stroke.

Equid hybrids, also called hybrid equines, are created from the crossing of members from the horse family such as a horse, donkey and zebra.

References

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  4. ↑ "Longear Lingo". lovelongears.com. American Donkey and Mule Society. 22 May 2013. Archived from the original on 8 January 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
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  6. ↑ Tomb-painting: Museum number EA37982. London: British Museum. Archived 25 June 2020.
  7. 1 2 Juliet Clutton-Brock (1981). Domesticated Animals from Early Times. Austin: University of Texas Press; London: British Museum (Natural History). ISBN   0292715323.
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  13. ↑ Caption of Mule Battery WDL11495.png Library of Congress
  14. 1 2 Katrin Hinrichs (2011). Nuclear Transfer. In: Angus O. McKinnon, Edward L. Squires, Wendy E. Vaala, Dickson D. Varner (editors) (2011). Equine Reproduction Archived 26 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine , second edition. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN   9781444397635.
  15. 1 2 Constance Holden (30 May 2003). First Cloned Mule Races to Finish Line. Science. 300 (5624): 1354.
  16. 1 2 Wikisource-logo.svg One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Mule". Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 959–960.
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  19. ↑ Chen, Z. Jeffrey; Birchler, James A., eds. (2013). Polyploid and Hybrid Genomics. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN   978-0-470-96037-0. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  20. ↑ Darwin, Charles (1879). What Mr. Darwin Saw in His Voyage Round the World in the Ship 'Beagle'. New York: Harper & Bros. pp. 33–34. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  21. ↑ Hauer, John, ed. (2014). The Natural Superiority of Mules. Skyhorse. ISBN   978-1-62636-166-9 . Retrieved 16 July 2014.
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  26. ↑ Savory, Theodore H (1970). "The Mule". Scientific American. 223 (6): 102–109. Bibcode:1970SciAm.223f.102S. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1270-102.
  27. 1 2 3 Kay, Katty (2 October 2002). "Morocco's miracle mule". BBC News . Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
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  29. 1 2 Lofholm, Nancy (19 September 2007). "Mule's foal fools genetics with 'impossible' birth". Denver Post . Archived from the original on 7 November 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
  30. ↑ Anderson, W. S. (1939). "Fertile Mare Mules". Journal of Heredity . 30 (12): 549–551. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a104657.
  31. ↑ Henry, M.; Gastal, E.L.; Pinheiro, L.E.L.; Guimarmes, S.E.F. (1995). "Mating Pattern and Chromosome Analysis of a Mule and Her Offspring". Biology of Reproduction. 52 (Equine Reproduction VI – Monograph Series 1): 273–279. doi: 10.1093/biolreprod/52.monograph_series1.273 .
  32. 1 2 "Hunter's Specialties: More With Wayne Carlton On Elk Hunting". hunterspec.com. Hunter's Specialties. 2009. Archived from the original on 8 October 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
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