Equidae is the taxonomic family of horses and related animals, including the extant horses, asses, and zebras, and many other species known only from fossils. The family evolved around 50 million years ago from a small, multi-toed ungulate into larger, single-toed animals. All extant species are in the genus Equus, which originated in North America. Equidae belongs to the order Perissodactyla, which includes the extant tapirs and rhinoceros, and several extinct families.
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.
Turkmen, Türkmen, Turkoman, or Turkman may refer to:
The kiang is the largest of the Asinus subgenus. It is native to the Tibetan Plateau in Ladakh, northern Pakistan, Tajikistan, China and northern Nepal. It inhabits montane grasslands and shrublands. Other common names for this species include Tibetan wild ass, khyang and gorkhar.
The wild asses (Asinus) are a subgenus of single toed grazing ungulates. Its species are:
Makhtesh Ramon is a geological feature of Israel's Negev desert. Located some 85 km south of the city of Beersheba, the landform is the world's largest "erosion cirque". The formation is 40 km long, 2–10 km wide and 500 meters deep, and is shaped like an elongated heart. Despite its appearance it is not an impact crater from a meteor nor a volcanic crater formed by a volcanic eruption.
The Mongolian wild ass, also known as Mongolian khulan, is the nominate subspecies of the onager. It is found in southern Mongolia and northern China. It was previously found in eastern Kazakhstan and southern Siberia before being extirpated there through hunting. As of 2015, the Mongolian wild ass is listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN. Current population estimates are approximately 42,000 individuals in Mongolia and around 5,000 individuals in Northern China.
The African wild ass or African wild donkey is a wild member of the horse family, Equidae. This species is thought to be the ancestor of the domestic donkey, which is sometimes placed within the same species. They live in the deserts and other arid areas of the Horn of Africa, in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. It formerly had a wider range north and west into Sudan, Egypt, and Libya. It is Critically Endangered, with about 570 wild asses existing in the wild.
The European wild ass or hydruntine is an extinct equine from the Middle Pleistocene to Late Holocene of Europe and West Asia, and possibly North Africa. It is a member of the subgenus Asinus, and closely related to the living Asiatic wild ass. The specific epithet, hydruntinus, means from Otranto.
Asinus is a subgenus of Equus that encompasses several subspecies of the Equidae commonly known as wild asses, characterized by long ears, a lean, straight-backed build, lack of a true withers, a coarse mane and tail, and a reputation for considerable toughness and endurance.
The Yotvata Hai-Bar Nature Reserve is a 3,000-acre (12 km2) breeding and reacclimation center administered by the Israel Nature Reserves & National Parks Authority, situated in the Southern Arava near Yotvata.
The Indian wild ass, also called the Indian onager or, in the local Gujarati language, Ghudkhur and Khur, is a subspecies of the onager native to South Asia.
The Badhyz State Nature Reserve is a protected area (zapovednik) in south-western Turkmenistan that was established in 1941 and extends over 877 km2 (339 sq mi) in the Mary and Akhal Provinces. It is located south of the Karakum Desert, and the Tejen River forms its western border.
Çemenebit Sanctuary is a sanctuary (zakaznik) of Turkmenistan.
Şasenem Sanctuary is a sanctuary (zakaznik) of Turkmenistan.
The Turkmenian kulan, also called Transcaspian wild ass, Turkmenistani onager or simply the kulan, is a subspecies of onager native to Central Asia. It was declared Endangered in 2016.
The Persian onager, also called the Persian wild ass or Persian zebra, is a subspecies of onager native to Iran (Persia). It is listed as Endangered, with no more than 600 individuals left in the wild and only 30 individuals living within North American institutions.
The kunga was a hybrid equid that was used as a draft animal in ancient Syria and Mesopotamia, where it also served as an economic and political status symbol. Cuneiform writings from as early as the mid-third millennium BCE describe the animal as a hybrid but do not provide the precise taxonomical nature of the breeding that produced it. Modern paleogenomics has revealed it to have been the offspring of a female domesticated donkey and a wild male Syrian wild ass. They fell out of favor after the introduction of domesticated horses and mules into the region at the end of the 3rd millennium BCE.
