Zebra

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigation Jump to search
For other uses, see Zebra (disambiguation).
Zebra
Temporal range: Neogene–present

A herd of plains zebra (Equus quagga) in the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Equidae
Tribe: Equini
Genus: Equus
Groups included
 Dolichohippus
o Equus grevyi Grévy's zebra
o †Equus koobiforensis
o †Equus oldowayensis
o †Equus simplicidens
 Hippotigris
o Equus quagga Plains zebra
 Equus quagga boehmi Grant's zebra
 Equus quagga borensis Maneless zebra
 Equus quagga burchellii Burchell's zebra
  Equus quagga chapmani Chapman's zebra
 Equus quagga crawshayi Crawshay's zebra
 †Equus quagga quagga Quagga
 Equus quagga selousi Selous' zebra
o Equus zebra Mountain zebra
 Equus zebra hartmannae Hartmann's mountain zebra
 Equus zebra zebra Cape mountain zebra
o †Equus capensis
o †Equus mauritanicus
 Equus incertae sedis
o †Equus stenonis Stenon zebra

Cladistically included but traditionally excluded taxa

 †Amerhippus
 Asinus
 Equus (subgenus)
 †Parastylidequus

All other Equus species

Zebras (/ˈziːbrə/ ZEE-brə, /ˈzɛbrə/ ZEB-rə)[1] are several species of African equids (horse
family) united by their distinctive black-and-white striped coats. Their stripes come in
different patterns, unique to each individual. They are generally social animals that live in
small harems to large herds. Unlike their closest relatives, horses and donkeys, zebras have
never been truly domesticated.

There are three species of zebras: the plains zebra, the mountain zebra and the Grévy's zebra.
The plains zebra and the mountain zebra belong to the subgenus Hippotigris, while Grévy's
zebra is the sole species of subgenus Dolichohippus. The latter resembles an ass, to which
zebras are closely related, while the former two look more horse-like. All three belong to the
genus Equus, along with other living equids.

The unique stripes of zebras make them one of the animals most familiar to people. They
occur in a variety of habitats, such as grasslands, savannas, woodlands, thorny scrublands,
mountains, and coastal hills. Various anthropogenic factors have had a severe impact on
zebra populations, in particular hunting for skins and habitat destruction. Grévy's zebra and
the mountain zebra are endangered. While plains zebras are much more plentiful, one
subspecies, the quagga, became extinct in the late 19th century – though there is currently a
plan, called the Quagga Project, that aims to breed zebras that are phenotypically similar to
the quagga in a process called breeding back.

Contents
 1 Etymology
 2 Taxonomy and evolution
o 2.1 Classification
  3 Physical attributes
o 3.1 Size and weight
o 3.2 Stripes
o 3.3 Gaits
o 3.4 Senses
o 3.5 Diseases
 4 Ecology and behavior
o 4.1 Harems
o 4.2 Communication
o 4.3 Food and foraging
o 4.4 Reproduction
 5 Interaction with humans
o 5.1 Domestication
o 5.2 Conservation
o 5.3 Cultural depictions
o 5.4 Biofuel
 6 See also
 7 References
 8 Further reading
 9 External links

Etymology
The name "zebra" in English dates back to c. 1600, from Italian zebra, perhaps from
Portuguese,[2] which in turn is said to be Congolese (as stated in the Oxford English
Dictionary). The Encarta Dictionary says its ultimate origin is uncertain, but perhaps it may
come from Latin equiferus meaning "wild horse"; from equus ("horse") and ferus ("wild,
untamed").[3] The word was traditionally pronounced with a long initial vowel, but over the
course of the 20th century, the pronunciation with the short initial vowel became the usual
one in the UK and Commonwealth.[4] The pronunciation with a long initial vowel remains
standard in the United States.

A group of zebras are referred to as a herd, dazzle, or zeal.[5]

Taxonomy and evolution

See also: Evolution of the horse

Zebras
Zebras evolved among the Old World horses within the last 4 million years. It has been
suggested that zebras are paraphyletic and that striped equids evolved more than once.
Extensive stripes are posited to have been of little use to equids that live in low densities in
deserts (like asses and some horses) or ones that live in colder climates with shaggy coats and
annual shading (like some horses).[6] However, molecular evidence supports zebras as a
monophyletic lineage.[7][8][9] The zebra has between 32 and 46 chromosomes, depending on
the species.

Classification

There are three extant species. Collectively, two of the species have eight subspecies (seven
extant). Zebra populations are diverse, and the relationships between, and the taxonomic
status of, several of the subspecies are not well known.

 Genus: Equus
o Subgenus: Hippotigris
 Plains zebra, Equus quagga
 †Quagga, Equus quagga quagga (extinct)
 Burchell's zebra, Equus quagga burchellii (includes Damara
zebra)
 Grant's zebra, Equus quagga boehmi
 Selous' zebra, Equus quagga selousi
 Maneless zebra, Equus quagga borensis
 Chapman's zebra, Equus quagga chapmani
 Crawshay's zebra, Equus quagga crawshayi
 Mountain zebra, Equus zebra
 Cape mountain zebra, Equus zebra zebra
 Hartmann's mountain zebra, Equus zebra hartmannae
o Subgenus: Dolichohippus
 Grévy's zebra, Equus grevyi

The plains zebra (Equus quagga, formerly Equus burchelli) is the most common, and has or
had about six subspecies distributed across much of southern and eastern Africa. It, or
particular subspecies of it, have also been known as the common zebra, the dauw, Burchell's
zebra (actually the subspecies Equus quagga burchellii), Chapman's zebra, Wahlberg's zebra,
Selous' zebra, Grant's zebra, Boehm's zebra and the quagga (another extinct subspecies,
Equus quagga quagga).

The mountain zebra (Equus zebra) of southwest Africa tends to have a sleek coat with a
white belly and narrower stripes than the plains zebra. It has two subspecies and is classified
as vulnerable.

Grévy's zebra (Equus grevyi) is the largest type, with a long, narrow head, making it appear
rather mule-like. It is an inhabitant of the semi-arid grasslands of Ethiopia and northern
Kenya. Grévy's zebra is the rarest species, and is classified as endangered.

Although zebra species may have overlapping ranges, they do not interbreed. In captivity,
plains zebras have been crossed with mountain zebras. The hybrid foals lacked a dewlap and
resembled the plains zebra apart from their larger ears and their hindquarters pattern.
Attempts to breed a Grévy's zebra stallion to mountain zebra mares resulted in a high rate of
miscarriage. In captivity, crosses between zebras and other (non-zebra) equines have
produced several distinct hybrids, including the zebroid, zeedonk, zony, and zorse. In certain
regions of Kenya, plains zebras and Grévy's zebra coexist, and fertile hybrids occur.[10]

The Hagerman horse (Equus simplicidens) is sometimes referred to as the American zebra
due to perceived similarities to the plains zebra, and sometimes depicted as striped. However,
consensus appears to be that it was not particularly closely related to either Hippotigiris nor
Dolichohippus, nor is there unambiguous evidence that it had stripes.[11]

Zebras

Zebras nuzzling.

Zebras at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

 

A cream zebra in captivity

Physical attributes
Size and weight

The skull of a Grant's zebra.

The common plains zebra is about 1.2–1.3 m (47–51 in) at the shoulder with a body ranging
from 2–2.6 m (6.6–8.5 ft) long with a 0.5 m (20 in) tail. It can weigh up to 350 kg (770 lb),
males being slightly bigger than females. Grévy's zebra is considerably larger, while the
mountain zebra is somewhat smaller.[12]

Stripes

The black and white stripes may have one or several functions.
Zebra striping patterns are unique to each individual.

It was previously believed that zebras were white animals with black stripes, since some
zebras have white underbellies. Embryological evidence, however, shows that the animal's
background colour is black and the white stripes and bellies are additions.[6] It is likely that
the stripes are caused by a combination of factors.[13][14][15]

The stripes are typically vertical on the head, neck, forequarters, and main body, with
horizontal stripes at the rear and on the legs of the animal.

A wide variety of hypotheses have been proposed to account for the evolution of the striking
stripes of zebras. The more traditional of these (1 and 2, below) relate to camouflage. A
currently leading hypothesis is that the stripes confuse the vision of biting flies (4 below).[16]

1. The vertical striping may help the zebra hide in the grass by disrupting its outline. In
addition, even at moderate distances, the striking striping merges to an apparent grey.
However, the camouflage has been contested with arguments that most of a zebra's
predators (such as lions and hyenas) cannot see well at a distance, and are more likely
to have smelled or heard a zebra before seeing it from a distance, especially at night.
[17]

2. The stripes may help to confuse predators by motion dazzle—a group of zebras
standing or moving close together may appear as one large mass of flickering stripes,
making it more difficult for the lion to pick out a target.[18] It has been suggested that
when moving, the stripes may confuse predators and/or biting insects by two visual
illusions: the wagon-wheel effect, where the perceived motion is inverted, and the
barberpole illusion, where the perceived motion is in a wrong direction.[19]
3. The stripes may serve as visual cues and identification among zebras themselves.[6]
Although the striping pattern is unique to each individual, it is not known whether
zebras can recognize one another by their stripes, but similar non-striped species can
differentiate individuals in some other way.
4. The stripes may deter flies, including blood-sucking tsetse flies and tabanid horseflies.
[13][20]
A 2012 experiment in Hungary showed that zebra-striped models were
unattractive to tabanid horseflies. These flies are attracted to linearly polarized light,
and black and white stripes disrupt the attractive pattern. Further, attractiveness
increases with stripe width, so the relatively narrow stripes of the three living species
of zebras should be unattractive to horseflies.[21][22] In 2019 scientists performed an
experiment putting striped blankets on horses, and found that flies were largely unable
to make a controlled landing on the striped patterns, providing strong evidence for the
fly-deterrence theory.[23][16][24]
5. Stripes may cool the zebra.[14][25] Air may move more quickly over black light-
absorbing stripes while moving more slowly over white stripes.[14] This would create
convection currents around the zebra that would cool it.[14] One study found that
 zebras have more stripes in hotter habitats.[14] On a sunny day in Kenya the
temperature difference between the black and the white stripes has been measured to
be about 10 degrees C. This establishes small convective air movements which allows
beads of sweat to evaporate more quickly . [26]

Gaits

Zebras have four gaits: walk, trot, canter and gallop. They are generally slower than horses,
but their great stamina helps them outrun predators. When chased, a zebra will zig-zag from
side to side, making it more difficult for the predator to attack. When cornered, the zebra will
rear up and kick or bite its attacker.

Senses

Zebras have excellent eyesight. Like most ungulates, the zebra's eyes are on the sides of its
head, giving it a wide field of view. Zebras also have night vision, although not as advanced
as that of most of their predators.[citation needed]

Zebras have excellent hearing and have larger, rounder ears than horses; like other ungulates,
zebras can turn their ears in almost any direction. In addition to superb eyesight and hearing,
zebras also have acute senses of smell and taste.

Diseases

As equids, zebras are subject to many of the same common infections and diseases as the
domestic horse.

 Parasites:
o Equid intestinal roundworms parascaris sp. and Strongylus vulgaris
o Roundworms of the lungs
o Botfly larvae in the zebra's stomach
o Lice
o Mange
o Ticks, which can serve as vectors for other diseases including Babesia
 Salmonella infection of the intestine
 Pneumonia and pleuritis
 Acute heart lesions due to stress
 Tetanus
 Anthrax

Two Grévy's zebras were poisoned in 1995 by leaves from a hybrid red maple tree (Acer
rubrum) at the St. Louis Zoo. Horses were first reported in 1981 to be susceptible and even a
small amount of the leaves can be toxic to ponies.[27] In 2000, a zebra was reported to be
infected with a nematode, Halicephalobus gingivalis, usually associated with decaying plant
material.[28]

Ecology and behavior

 This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding
citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Zebra" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2013) (Learn how and
when to remove this template message)

Harems

Zebras

Like most members of the horse family, zebras are highly social. Their social structure,
however, depends on the species. Mountain zebras and plains zebras live in groups, known as
'harems', consisting of one stallion with up to six mares and their foals. Bachelor males either
live alone or with groups of other bachelors until they are old enough to challenge a breeding
stallion. When attacked by packs of hyenas or wild dogs a zebra group will huddle together
with the foals in the middle while the stallion tries to ward them off.

Unlike the other zebra species, Grévy's zebras do not have permanent social bonds. A group
of these zebras rarely stays together for more than a few months. The foals stay with their
mothers, while adult males live alone. Like the other two zebra species, bachelor male zebras
will organize in groups.

Like horses, zebras sleep standing up, and only sleep when neighbors are around to warn
them of predators.

Communication

Zebra feeding on grass

Zebras communicate with each other with high-pitched barks and whinnying. Grévy's zebras
make mulelike brays. A zebra's ears signify its mood. When a zebra is in a calm, tense or
friendly mood, its ears stand erect. When it is frightened, its ears are pushed forward. When
angry, the ears are pulled backward. When surveying an area for predators, zebras will stand
in an alert posture with ears erect, head held high, and staring. When tense, they will also
snort. When a predator is spotted or sensed, a zebra will bark (or bray) loudly.
Food and foraging

Burchell's zebra drinking at a waterhole at Etosha National Park

Zebras feed almost entirely on grasses, but may occasionally eat shrubs, herbs, twigs, leaves
and bark. Their digestive systems allow them to subsist on diets of lower nutritional quality
than that necessary for other herbivores.

Reproduction

Further information: Plains zebra § Reproduction, and Grévy's zebra § Reproduction

Female zebras mature earlier than the males, and a mare may have her first foal by the age of
three. Males are not able to breed until the age of five or six. Mares may give birth to one foal
every twelve months. She nurses the foal for up to a year. Like horses, zebras are able to
stand, walk and suckle shortly after they are born. A zebra foal is brown and white instead of
black and white at birth.

Plains and mountain zebra foals are protected by their mothers, as well as the head stallion
and the other mares in their group. Grévy's zebra foals have only their mother as a regular
protector, since, as noted above, Grévy's zebra groups often disband after a few months.

Interaction with humans

Domestication

Lord Rothschild with his famed zebra carriage (sp. Equus quagga burchellii), which he
frequently drove through London
Cavalry of Schutztruppe in German East Africa (1911)

Attempts have been made to train zebras for riding, since they have better resistance than
horses to African diseases. While occasionally successful, most of these attempts failed due
to the zebra's more unpredictable nature and tendency to panic under stress. For this reason,
zebra-mules or zebroids (crosses between any species of zebra and a horse, pony, donkey or
ass) are preferred over purebred zebras.[citation needed]

In England, the zoological collector Walter Rothschild frequently used zebras to draw a
carriage. In 1907, Rosendo Ribeiro, the first doctor in Nairobi, Kenya, used a riding zebra for
house calls. In the mid-19th century, Governor George Grey imported zebras to New Zealand
from his previous posting in South Africa, and used them to pull his carriage on his privately
owned Kawau Island.

Jumping an obstacle: riding a zebra in East Africa, about 1900

Captain Horace Hayes, in "Points of the Horse" (circa 1893), compared the usefulness of
different zebra species. In 1891, Hayes broke a mature, intact mountain zebra stallion to ride
in two days' time, and the animal was quiet enough for his wife to ride and be photographed
upon. He found the Burchell's zebra easy to break, and considered it ideal for domestication,
as it was immune to the bite of the tsetse fly. He considered the quagga (now extinct) well-
suited to domestication due to being easy to train to saddle and harness.[29]

Conservation

Humans have greatly impacted the zebra population. Zebras were, and still are, hunted for
their skins and meat. They also compete with livestock for forage[30] and are sometimes
culled.

The Cape mountain zebra was hunted to near extinction, with less than 100 individuals by the
1930s. The population has since increased to about 700 due to conservation efforts. Both
mountain zebra subspecies are currently protected in national parks, but are still endangered.
The Grévy's zebra is also endangered. Hunting and competition from livestock have greatly
decreased their population. Because of the population's small size, environmental hazards,
such as drought, are capable of affecting the entire species. Plains zebras are much more
numerous and have a healthy population. Nevertheless, they too have been reduced by
hunting and loss of habitat to farming.

Cultural depictions

Zebras have been the subject of African folk tales which tell how they got their stripes.
According to a San folk tale of Namibia, the zebra was once all white, but acquired its black
stripes after a fight with a baboon over a waterhole. After kicking the baboon so hard, the
zebra lost his balance and tripped over a fire, and the fire sticks left scorch marks all over his
white coat.[31] In the film Fantasia, two centaurs are depicted being half human and half
zebra, instead of the typical half human and half horse.[32]

Zebras are a popular subject in art.[33] The fourth Mughal emperor Jahangir (r.1605–24),
commissioned a painting of the zebra, which was completed by Ustad Mansur.[34] Zebra
stripes are also a popular style for furniture, carpets and fashion.

When depicted in movies and cartoons, zebras are most often miscellaneous characters, but
have had some starring roles, notably in Madagascar, Racing Stripes and Khumba. One of
the recurring characters in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is a zebra named Zecora.
Zebras also serve as mascots and symbols for products and corporations, notably Zebra
Technologies and Fruit Stripe gum as well as Investec. Zebras are featured on the coat of
arms of Botswana.

Some on-field officials in various sports, especially American football, basketball, and ice
hockey, may be nicknamed "zebras" due to the resemblance of their black-and-white striped
uniforms to the animal's markings.

Illustration of a zebra from Ludolphus A new History of Ethiopia (1682).

 

Zebras on the Botswana coat of arms.

Biofuel

Recent research has shown that TU-103, a strain of Clostridium bacteria found in zebra feces,
can convert nearly any form of cellulose into butanol fuel.[35]

See also
 Dazzle camouflage
 Tijuana Zebra
 Zebra crossing

References
1.

 "Zebra". Online Etymology Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2015-03-04.

Retrieved 2011-12-10.
  Adalberto Alves (14 February 2014). Dicionário de Arabismos da Língua
Portuguesa. INCM. pp. 877–. ISBN 978-972-27-2179-0.
  Nores, Carlos; Muñiz, Arturo Morales; Rodríguez, Laura Llorente; Bennett, E.
Andrew; Geigl, Eva-María (2015). "The Iberian zebro: What kind of a beast was it?".
Anthropozoologica. 50. pp. 21-23. doi:10.5252/az2015n1a2.
  Wells, John (1997). "Our changing pronunciation". Transactions of the Yorkshire
Dialect Society: xix.42–48. Archived from the original on 2014-10-07. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
  "Animal Collectives". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  Prothero D.R.; Schoch R. M. (2003). Horns, Tusks, and Flippers: The Evolution of
Hoofed Mammals. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0801871351.
  Vilstrup, Julia T.; et al. (2013). "Mitochondrial Phylogenomics of Modern and
Ancient Equids". PLOS ONE. 8 (2): e55950. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...855950V.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0055950. PMC 3577844. PMID 23437078.
  Forstén, Ann (1992). "Mitochondrial‐DNA timetable and the evolution of Equus: of
molecular and paleontological evidence" (PDF). Annales Zoologici Fennici. 28: 301–309.
  Ryder, O. A.; George, M. (1986). "Mitochondrial DNA evolution in the genus Equus"
(PDF). Molecular Biology and Evolution. 3 (6): 535–546.
  Cordingley, J. E.; Sundaresan, S. R.; Fischhoff, I. R.; Shapiro, B.; Ruskey, J.;
Rubenstein, D. I. (2009). "Is the endangered Grevy's zebra threatened by hybridization?"
(PDF). Animal Conservation. 12 (6): 505. doi:10.1111/j.1469-1795.2009.00294.x.
  Griffin, L.R.; Rawlinson, J.E.; McDonald, H.G.; Duncan, C. (March 2016).
"Mandibular osteopathy in a Hagerman horse, Equus simplicidens (Equidae, Mammalia),
from Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument (Idaho, USA)". International Journal of
Paleopathology. 12: 41–45. doi:10.1016/j.ijpp.2015.11.002. PMID 29539519.
  "Zebras". The Gale Encyclopedia of Science. 2008. Archived from the original on
2014-10-21. Retrieved 2011-05-16.
  Gill, Victoria (2012-02-09). "Zebra stripes evolved to keep biting flies at bay". BBC
News. Archived from the original on 2015-01-09.
  Howard, Jacqueline (2015-01-15). "Scientists Offer Cool New Theory About Zebra
Stripes". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 2015-01-16. Retrieved 2015-01-
16.
  Morell, Virginia (2015-01-13). "A new explanation for zebra stripes". Science.
Archived from the original on 2015-01-17. Retrieved 2015-01-16.
  Klein, JoAnna (February 20, 2019). "Why Do Zebras Have Stripes? Scientists
Camouflaged Horses to Find Out". The New York Times. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  "Why do zebras have stripes? It's not what you think".
  Conger, Cristen (n.d.). "Are zebras black with white stripes or white with black
stripes?". HowStuffWorks. Archived from the original on 2014-10-21.
  How, Martin J. & Zanker, Johannes M. (2014). "Motion camouflage induced by
zebra stripes". Zoology. 117 (3): 163–170. doi:10.1016/j.zool.2013.10.004.
PMID  24368147.
  Waage, J. K. (1981). "How the zebra got its stripes: biting flies as selective agents in
the evolution of zebra colouration". J. Entom. Soc. South Africa. 44: 351–358.
  Egri, Ádám; Miklós Blahó; György Kriska; Róbert Farkas; Mónika Gyurkovszky;
Susanne Åkesson & Gábor Horváth (March 2012). "Polarotactic tabanids find striped
patterns with brightness and/or polarization modulation least attractive: an advantage of
zebra stripes". The Journal of Experimental Biology. 215 (5): 736–745.
doi:10.1242/jeb.065540. PMID 22323196. Archived from the original on 2012-04-22.
  Knight, Kathryn (2012). "How the Zebra Got Its Stripes". J Exp Biol. 215 (5): iii.
doi:10.1242/jeb.070680.
  Caro, Tim; Argueta, Yvette; Briolat, Emmanuelle Sophie; Bruggink, Joren;
Kasprowsky, Maurice; Lake, Jai; Mitchell, Matthew J.; Richardson, Sarah; How, Martin (20
Feb 2019). "Benefits of zebra stripes: Behaviour of tabanid flies around zebras and horses".
PLOS ONE. 14 (2): e0210831. Bibcode:2019PLoSO..1410831C.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0210831. PMC 6382098. PMID 30785882.
  "Scientists may have just discovered why zebras have stripes by putting them on
horses". MSN. 21 Feb 2019.
  Dell'Amore, Christine (2015-01-14). "Why Do Zebras Have Stripes? New Study
Makes Temperature Connection". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 2015-
01-29. Retrieved 2015-01-16.
  Knapton, Sarah (2019-06-13). "Zebra stripes work as an elaborate cooling system".
The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2019-07-02.
  "Grevy's Zebra, Equus grevyi". San Diego Zoo. 2010. Archived from the original on
2014-10-20. Retrieved 2013-08-24.
  Isaza R, Schiller CA, Stover J, Smith PJ, Greiner EC (March 2000). "Halicephalobus
gingivalis (Nematoda) infection in a Grevy's zebra (Equus grevyi)". J Zoo Wildl Med. 31 (1):
77–81. doi:10.1638/1042-7260(2000)031[0077:HGNIIA]2.0.CO;2. JSTOR 20095950.
PMID  10884129.
  Hayes, Capt. Horace (1893), Points of the Horse, pp. 311–316, London: W. Thacker
  Young, T.P.; et al. (2005). "Competition and compensation among cattle, zebras, and
elephants in a semi-arid savanna in Laikipia, Kenya" (PDF). Biological Conservation. 121
(2): 351–359. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2004.08.007.
  "How the Zebra got its stripes. Fables and animal stories by Chrigi-in-Africa of the
San Clan". Gateway Africa. Archived from the original on 2014-10-31. Retrieved 2008-10-
10.
  Dirks, Tim (n.d.). "Fantasia (1940)". Filmsite.org. Archived from the original on
2014-08-23.
  "Zebra Art". Artists for Conservation. Archived from the original on 2014-10-20.
Retrieved 2008-10-10.
  Cohen, M.J.; Major, John and Schama, Simon (2004) History in
Quotations:Reflecting 5000 Years of World History, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.,
ISBN 0-304-35387-6. p. 146.

1.  Hobgood Ray, Kathryn (2011-08-25). "Cars Could Run on Recycled

Newspaper, Tulane Scientists Say". Tulane University. Archived from the original on
2014-10-21. Retrieved 2012-03-14.

Further reading
 Churcher, C. S. 1993. Mammalian Species No. 453. American Society of
Mammalogists.
 "Horse Sense, Why Zebras Are Striped: Are Zebra Stripes Just an Elaborate Insect
Repellent?". The Economist (8771): 81. 2012-02-11. Archived from the original on
2014-11-02.
 Estes, R. (2012). The Behavior Guide to African Mammals, Including Hoofed
Mammals, Carnivores, Primates 20th Anniversary Edition, ISBN 9780520272972
University of California Press.
 Larison, Brenda; Harrigan, Ryan J.; Thomassen, Henri A.; Rubenstein, Daniel I.;
Chan-Golston, Alec M.; Li, Elizabeth; Smith, Thomas B. (14 January 2015). "How
the zebra got its stripes: a problem with too many solutions". Royal Society Open
Science. 2 (1): 140452. Bibcode:2015RSOS....240452L. doi:10.1098/rsos.140452.
ISSN  2054-5703. PMC  4448797. PMID 26064590.
 McClintock, Dorcas (1976). A Natural History of Zebras. New York: Scribner's.
ISBN 0-684-14621-5.
 Robert, Eric, dir. (2001). Zebras, in series, Families in the Wild (DVD, 53 min.).
Goldhil Entertainment GH-1593. N.B.: "About the Grant zebras living in Tanzania."

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zebra.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Zebra.

 "Horse Tigers". Nature. 2001-08-26. Archived from the original on 2015-03-04.

 "Great Zebra Exodus". Nature. 2013-05-15.
  Delk, Katie (n.d.). "Plains Zebra – Equus Burchelli". Davidson College. Archived
from the original on 2004-08-22.
 "Zebra Fact File". Outtoafrica.nl. n.d. Archived from the original on 2014-10-20.

 v
 t
 e

Extant Perissodactyla (Odd-toed ungulates) species by suborder

 v
 t
 e

Species of the genus Equus

Authority  NDL: 00575351
control
Categories:

 Paraphyletic groups
 Equus
 Herbivorous mammals
 Zebras
 Mammal common names

Navigation menu
 Not logged in
 Talk
 Contributions
 Create account
 Log in

 Article
 Talk

 Read
 View source
 View history

Search

 Main page
 Contents
  Featured content
 Current events
 Random article
 Donate to Wikipedia
 Wikipedia store

Interaction

 Help
 About Wikipedia
 Community portal
 Recent changes
 Contact page

Tools

 What links here

 Related changes
 Upload file
 Special pages
 Permanent link
 Page information
 Wikidata item
 Cite this page

In other projects

 Wikimedia Commons
 Wikiquote

Print/export

 Create a book
 Download as PDF
 Printable version

Languages

 Català
 Español
 हिन्दी
 Bahasa Indonesia
 Bahasa Melayu
 Sunda
 ‫اردو‬
 粵語
 中文
Edit links

 This page was last edited on 1 December 2019, at 08:53 (UTC).

 Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License;
additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and
Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation,
Inc., a non-profit organization.

 Privacy policy
 About Wikipedia
 Disclaimers
 Contact Wikipedia
 Developers
 Statistics
 Cookie statement
 Mobile view

Zebra habitat
Where zebras live

Online Biology Dictionary

Ideal zebra habitat. Burchell's zebras at Mara Masai Reserve, Kenya. Image: Esculapio

EUGENE M. MCCARTHY, PHD

AddThis Sharing Buttons

Share to Google Bookmark

Share to Facebook3Share to TwitterShare to More

344   Site Search

 Zebras aren't restricted to pure
grassland

Zebras are found in the more arid portions of eastern and southern Africa. They are
widespread, but due to the encroachment of humans their geographic range is greatly reduced
from what it was in former times.

Zebra habitat varies

Burchell's zebra's distribution. Red: former range; Green: present range. Map: Pmaas

Mountain zebra's distribution. Map: Harald Süpfle

Distribution of Grevy's zebra. Map: Chermundy

Zebra habitat can include open plains, semi-desert, open woodlands, and even mountainous
regions. This variation occurs because there are three types of zebra, Burchell's zebra (Equus
burchelli), Grevy's zebra (Equus grevyi), and the mountain zebra (Equus zebra).¹

Grevy's zebra lives in the most xeric habitat of the three, the sub-desert region of northern
Kenya and southern Ethiopia between the range of Burchell's zebra to the south, and the
African wild ass to the north. Equus grevyi can live off of tough desert grasses that are
inedible to cattle.

Burchell's zebra is found in a more varied range of habitats, ranging from savanna, to open
woodland and scrub, to grassland. It also can occur in hilly, or even mountainous, country up
to an elevation of 4,400 meters. It's much more dependent on the availability of fresh water
than is Grevy's zebra.

As its name suggests, the mountain zebra generally occurs in mountainous or hilly regions.
Like Burchell's, most of its diet is composed of grass, with the addition of some browse.

However, since hybridization occurs between all the different types of zebra where they come
into natural contact, as well as between zebras and horses in southern Africa, and between
zebras and wild asses in the northeast of Africa, it is questionable whether the various zebra
types should be treated as separate species or as a single varying species.

Related articles:

Zebra hybrids >>

Facts about giraffes >>

Giraffe habitat >>

Where cheetahs live >>

Where lions live >>

Chimpanzee habitat >>

Biologists tend to combine populations under one name when they are found to hybridize, but
the application of the rule has been inconsistent.

Next page >>

Biology Dictionary >>

1. A fourth type of zebra, the quagga, often described as an extinct species, is a probable
hybrid between the domestic horse and Burchell's zebra.

A zonkey
(zebra × donkey)

Some zebra facts:

Swahili name for a zebra: Punda Milia.

Shoulder height: 45-55 inches (Burchell's); 50-60 inches (Grevy's).

Weight: 485-550 lbs (Burchell's); 770-990 lbs (Grevy's).

Gestation: 12 mos (Burchell's); 13 mos (Grevy's).

Predators: Lions, hyaenas.