Onager

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Onager

The Onager (Equus hemionus) is a large mammal

Mammal

Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose name is derived from their distinctive feature, mammary glands, with which they feed their young....
belonging to the genus Equus

Equus (genus)

Equus is a genus of animals in the Family Equidae that includes horses, donkeys, and zebras. Within Equidae, Equus is the only Extant taxon genus....
of the family Equidae

Equidae

Equidae is the Taxonomy Family of horses and related animals, including the extant horses, donkeys, and zebras, and many other species known only from fossils....
(horse

Horse

The horse is a hoofed mammal, a subspecies of one of seven extant species of the family Equidae. The horse has evolution of the horse over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, odd-toed ungulate animal of today....
family) and native to the deserts of Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is an Arab-majority country in Southwest Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north....
, Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
, India

India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, Israel

Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
, and Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a Tibetan Plateau in Asia, north of the Himalayas, and the home to the indigenous Tibetan people and its related ethnic groups. With an average elevation of 4,900 metres , it is the highest region on Earth and has in recent decades increasingly been referred to as the "Roof of the World"....
. It is sometimes known as the Asian Wild Ass.

Like many other large grazing animals, its range has contracted greatly under the pressures of hunting and habitat loss, and of the six subspecies

Subspecies

In biology, subspecies is the taxonomic rank immediately subordinate to a species. A subspecies is a taxonomic group which is less distinct than the Common descent or species from which it originates....
, one is extinct and two endangered. The Kiang

Kiang

The kiang is the largest of the wild asses. This equine is native to the Tibetan Plateau, where it inhabits montane grasslands and shrublands from 4000 to 7000 meters elevation....
(E.

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Encyclopedia

The Onager (Equus hemionus) is a large mammal
Mammal

Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose name is derived from their distinctive feature, mammary glands, with which they feed their young....
belonging to the genus Equus
Equus (genus)

Equus is a genus of animals in the Family Equidae that includes horses, donkeys, and zebras. Within Equidae, Equus is the only Extant taxon genus....
of the family Equidae
Equidae

Equidae is the Taxonomy Family of horses and related animals, including the extant horses, donkeys, and zebras, and many other species known only from fossils....
(horse
Horse

The horse is a hoofed mammal, a subspecies of one of seven extant species of the family Equidae. The horse has evolution of the horse over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, odd-toed ungulate animal of today....
family) and native to the deserts of Syria
Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is an Arab-majority country in Southwest Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north....
, Iran
Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
, Pakistan
Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
, India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
, and Tibet
Tibet

Tibet is a Tibetan Plateau in Asia, north of the Himalayas, and the home to the indigenous Tibetan people and its related ethnic groups. With an average elevation of 4,900 metres , it is the highest region on Earth and has in recent decades increasingly been referred to as the "Roof of the World"....
. It is sometimes known as the Asian Wild Ass.

Like many other large grazing animals, its range has contracted greatly under the pressures of hunting and habitat loss, and of the six subspecies
Subspecies

In biology, subspecies is the taxonomic rank immediately subordinate to a species. A subspecies is a taxonomic group which is less distinct than the Common descent or species from which it originates....
, one is extinct and two endangered. The Kiang
Kiang

The kiang is the largest of the wild asses. This equine is native to the Tibetan Plateau, where it inhabits montane grasslands and shrublands from 4000 to 7000 meters elevation....
(E. kiang), a Tibetan relative, was previously considered to be a subspecies of the Onager as E. hemionus kiang, but recent molecular studies indicate that it is a distinct species.

Onagers are a little larger than donkey
Donkey

The 'donkey' or 'ass', Equus africanus asinus, is a Domestication member of the Equidae or horse family, and an Odd-toed ungulates. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the Wild Ass, E....
s at about 290 kg and 2.1 metres (head-body length), and are a little more horse-like. They are short-legged compared to horses, and their coloring varies depending on the season. They are generally reddish-brown in color during the summer, becoming yellowish-brown in the winter months. They have a black stripe bordered in white that extends down the middle of the back. They are notoriously untameable. Equids were used in ancient Sumer
Sumer

Sumer was a civilization and a historical region located in Southern Iraq , known as the Cradle of civilization. It lasted from the first settlement of Eridu in the Ubaid period through the Uruk period and the Dynastic periods until the rise of Babylon in the early 2nd millennium BC....
to pull wagons circa 2600 BC, and then chariot
Chariot

The chariot is the earliest and simplest type of carriage, used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. Chariots were built in Mesopotamia by the Mesopotamians as early as 3000 BC and in China during the 2nd millennium BC....
s on the Standard of Ur
Standard of Ur

The Standard of Ur is a Sumerian Artifact excavated from what had been the Royal Cemetery in the ancient city of Ur . The Standard of Ur dates from around 2600 - 2400 BCE, and was excavated by British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley in the 1920s....
, circa 2000 BC. These have been suggested to represent Onagers, but are now thought to have been domestic asses
African Wild Ass

The African Wild Ass is a wild member of the horse family, Equidae. This species is believed to be the ancestor of the domestic donkey which is usually placed within the same species....
. (Clutton-Brock, 1992)

Subspecies

Mongolian Wild Ass
Mongolian Wild Ass

The Mongolian Wild Ass is a subspecies of the Onager. It may be synonymous with the Gobi Kulan or Dziggetai . It is found in Mongolia and northern China, and was previously found in Kazakhstan before it became extinct due to hunting....
, Equus hemionus hemionus
Gobi Kulan or Dziggetai, Equus hemionus luteus
Turkmenian Kulan, Equus hemionus kulan
Persian Onager, Equus hemionus onager
Indian Wild Ass
Indian Wild Ass

The Indian wild ass also called khur, is a subspecies of the Onager native to Southern Asia....
or Khur, Equus hemionus khur

Syrian Wild Ass
Syrian Wild Ass

The Syrian Wild Ass was a wild ass found in the mountains and desert/steppe of Syria. The last one died at Tiergarten Sch?nbrunn, 1928. It is officially declared extinct....
, Equus hemionus hemippus (extinct
Extinction

In biology and ecology, extinction is the death of every member of a species or group of taxon. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of that species ....
)

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