Equus occidentalis

Extinct species of horse

Equus occidentalis
Skeleton in Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Skeleton in Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Equidae
Genus: Equus
Species:
E. occidentalis
Binomial name
Equus occidentalis
Leidy, 1865
Skeleton from the La Brea tar pits

Equus occidentalis (commonly known as the western horse) is an extinct species of wild horse that once inhabited North America, specifically the Southwestern United States, during the Pleistocene epoch.[1][2][3][4] It was first described from three teeth with insufficient diagnostic characters, one even being suggested to be a separate taxon related to the American Zebra, leading some researchers to consider it a nomen dubium, though this taxonomic debate is yet to be fully resolved.[5][6]

E. occidentalis was about the same size as the modern Arabian horse, measuring up to 1.47 metres (4.8 ft) in shoulder height. It was morphologically and proportionally similar to the modern day zebra.[7]

References

  1. ^ Klide, A. M. (1989). "Overriding vertebral spinous processes in the extinct horse, Equus occidentalis". American Journal of Veterinary Research. 50 (4): 592–593. PMID 2712429.
  2. ^ Colbert, Edwin H. (1973). "Further Evidence concerning the Presence of Horse at Ventana Cave". Kiva. 39 (1): 25–33. doi:10.1080/00231940.1973.11757782. ISSN 0023-1940. JSTOR 30247142.
  3. ^ Kutcher, Maree Michelle; Scott, Eric (2016). "First Record of Equus occidentalis from Orange County, California, with Implications for the Late Pleistocene Distribution of Equus in the American Southwest". Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Geological Society of America. doi:10.1130/abs/2016am-282407. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ^ "Equus occidentalis". www.utep.edu. Retrieved 2021-06-21.
  5. ^ Springer, K.; Scott, E.; Sagebiel, J.C.; Murray, L.K. (2010). "The Diamond Valley Lake local fauna: late Pleistocene vertebrates from inland southern California". 217 (1–2): 256–265. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2009.10.041. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. ^ Brown, K.E.; Akersten, W.A.; Scott, E. (2015). "Equus occidentalis Leidy from "Asphalto," Kern County, California". In Harris, J.M. (ed.). La Brea and Beyond: The Paleontology of Asphalt-Preserved Biotas. Los Angeles, California: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. pp. 81–89.
  7. ^ Willoughby, D.P. (1948). "A Statistical Study of the Metapodials of Equus occidentalis Leidy" (PDF). Bulletin of Southern Carolina Academy of Sciences. 47 (3): 84–94.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Equus occidentalis.
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Species of the genus Equus
Extinct species are marked
Asses
African wild ass
(Equus africanus)
  • Nubian wild ass (Equus africanus africanus)
  • Donkey (Equus africanus asinus)
  • †Atlas wild ass (Equus africanus atlanticus)
  • Somali wild ass (Equus africanus somaliensis)
Onager / Asiatic wild ass
(Equus hemionus)
  • Mongolian wild ass (Equus hemionus hemionus)
  • †Syrian wild ass (Equus hemionus hemippus)
  • Indian wild ass (Equus hemionus khur)
  • Turkmenian kulan (Equus hemionus kulan)
  • Persian onager (Equus hemionus onager)
  • †European wild ass (Equus hemionus hydruntinus)
Kiang/Tibetan wild ass
(Equus kiang)
  • Western kiang (Equus kiang kiang)
  • Northern kiang (Equus kiang chu)
  • Eastern kiang (Equus kiang holdereri)
  • Southern kiang (Equus kiang polyodon)
Horses
Wild horse (Equus ferus)
  • Horse (Equus ferus caballus)
  • †Tarpan (Equus ferus ferus)
  • Przewalski's horse (Equus ferus przewalskii)
Zebras
Plains zebra (Equus quagga)
  • †Quagga (Equus quagga quagga)
  • Burchell's zebra (Equus quagga burchellii)
  • Grant's zebra (Equus quagga boehmi)
  • Maneless zebra (Equus quagga borensis)
  • Chapman's zebra (Equus quagga chapmani)
  • Crawshay's zebra (Equus quagga crawshayi)
  • Selous' zebra (Equus quagga selousi)
Mountain zebra (Equus zebra)
  • Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra)
  • Hartmann's mountain zebra (Equus zebra hartmannae)
Grévy's zebra (Equus grevy)
  • Grévy's zebra (Equus grevy)
HybridsPrehistoric
Equus species
Taxon identifiers
Equus occidentalis