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Onager

This article is about the Equid species. For the siege weapon, see Onager (weapon).

Onager
Temporal range: Early Pliocene – Holocene
A Persian onager (Equus hemionus onager) at Rostov-on-Don Zoo, Russia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Equidae
Genus: Equus
Subgenus: Asinus
Species:
E. hemionus[1]
Binomial name
Equus hemionus[1]
Pallas, 1775
Subspecies
Onager range
Synonyms

Equus onager (Boddaert, 1785)

The onager (/ˈɒnədʒər/;[3] Equus hemionus /ˈɛkwəs hɪˈmaɪənəs/),[4][5] also known as hemione or Asiatic wild ass,[6] 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.

The Asiatic wild ass weighs about 200–260 kg (440–570 lb)[7] and reaches about 2.1 m (6.9 ft) head-body length. They are reddish-brown or yellowish-brown in color and have broad dorsal stripe on the middle of the back. Unlike most horses and donkeys, onagers have never been domesticated. They are among the fastest mammals, as they can run as fast as 64 km/h (40 mph) to 70 km/h (43 mph). The onager is closely related to the African wild ass, as they both shared the same ancestor. The kiang, formerly considered a subspecies of Equus hemionus, is generally considered a distinct species,[8] however, this has been questioned, with some genomic studies finding the kiang to be nested within the diversity of Equus hemionus.[9]

The onager formerly had a wider range from southwest and central to northern Asian countries, such as Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Afghanistan, Russia, and Siberia; the prehistoric European wild ass subspecies ranged through Europe until the Bronze age.[10] During early 20th century, the species lost most of its ranges in the Middle East and Eastern Asia. Today, onagers live in deserts and other arid regions of Iran, India, and Mongolia, including in Central Asian hot and cold deserts of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and China.[1]

Other than deserts, it lives in grasslands, plains, steppes, and savannahs. Like many other large grazing animals, the onager's range has contracted greatly under the pressures of poaching and habitat loss.[6] Previously listed as Endangered, the onager has been classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List in 2015.[2] Of the five subspecies, one is extinct, two are endangered, and two are near threatened; its status in China is not well known.[6] Persian onagers are currently being reintroduced in the Middle East as replacements for the extinct Syrian wild ass in the Arabian Peninsula, Palestine and Jordan.

  1. ^ a b Grubb, P. (2005). "Order Perissodactyla". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 632. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  2. ^ a b Kaczensky, P.; Lkhagvasuren, B.; Pereladova, O.; Hemami, M. & Bouskila, A. (2020). "Equus hemionus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T7951A166520460. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T7951A166520460.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  3. ^ Longman, J.C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3 ed.). Pearson Education ESL. ISBN 978-1405881173.
  4. ^ "Equus". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary.
  5. ^ "Hemionus". Webster's 1913. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  6. ^ a b c "Asiatic Wild Ass   Equus hemionus". IUCN. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN/SSC Equid Specialist Group. Archived from the original on 20 December 2012.
  7. ^ "Persian onager". Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  8. ^ Ryder, O.A. & Chemnick, L.G. (1990). "Chromosomal and molecular evolution in Asiatic wild asses". Genetica. 83 (1): 67–72. doi:10.1007/BF00774690. PMID 2090563. S2CID 12351710.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Crees, Jennifer J.; Turvey, Samuel T. (2014). "Holocene extinction dynamics of Equus hydruntinus, a late-surviving European megafaunal mammal". Quaternary Science Reviews. 91: 16–29. Bibcode:2014QSRv...91...16C. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.03.003.

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