NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Plains Zebra

The Plains Zebra (Equus quagga, formerly Equus burchelli), also known as the Common Zebra or the Burchell's Zebra, is the most common and geographically widespread form of zebra, once being found from the south of Ethiopia right through east Africa as far south as Angola and eastern South Africa. The Plains Zebra is much less numerous than it once was, because of human activities such as hunting it for its meat and hide, as well as encroachment on much of its former habitat, but it remains common in game reserves. For other uses, see Zebra (disambiguation). ...

Physical description

The Plains Zebra is mid-sized and thick bodied with relatively short legs. Adults of both sexes stand about 1.4 meters (4.6 ft) high at the shoulder, are approximately 2.3 meters (8 ft) long, and weigh about 290 kg (638 lbs). Like all zebras, it is boldly striped in black and white and no two individuals look exactly alike. All have vertical stripes on the forepart of the body, which tend towards the horizontal on the hindquarters. The northern species have narrower and more defined striping; southern populations have varied but lesser amounts of striping on the underparts, the legs and the hindquarters. The first subspecies to be described, the Quagga which is now extinct, had plain brown hindquarters. (Technically, because the Quagga was described first as E. quagga, the proper zoological name for the most common form of the Plains Zebra is E. quagga burchelli.) Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 533 pixelsFull resolution (1800 Ã— 1200 pixel, file size: 771 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 533 pixelsFull resolution (1800 Ã— 1200 pixel, file size: 771 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Trinomial name Equus quagga quagga Boddaert, 1785 The quagga is an extinct subspecies of the plains zebra, which was once found in great numbers in South Africas Cape Province and the southern part of the Orange Free State. ...

Lifestyle and reproduction

The Plains Zebra is highly social and usually forms small family groups consisting of a single stallion, one, two, or several mares, and their recent offspring. A Stallion forms a harem by abducting young mares from her family. When a mare reaches sexual maturity she will exhibit the estrous posture which invites the males. Howver she is usually not ready for mating at this point and will hide in her family group. Her father has to chase of stallions attempting to abduct her. Eventually a stallion will be able defeat the father and include the mare into his roups. Estrus (also spelled œstrus) or heat in female mammals is the period of greatest female sexual responsiveness usually coinciding with ovulation. ...

Mares have a dominance hierarchy. The stallions first mates with the alpha zebra and then down. The oldest mare has the responsibility of leading the group when they move to different areas. Bachelor males either live alone or with groups of other bachelors until they are old enough to challenge a breeding stallion.

Plains zebra mating peaks in the rainy season. Th nweborns are able to stand, walk and suckle moments after they ae born. The foals are protected by the harem.

Plains zebra groups are permanent, and group size tends to vary with habitat: in poor country the groups are small. From time to time, Plains Zebra families group together into large herds, both with one another and with other grazing species, notably Blue Wildebeests. Binomial name (Burchell, 1823) The Blue Wildebeest is a large ungulate mammal of the genus Connochaetes which grows to 1. ...

Image File history File links Size of this preview: 729 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (924 Ã— 760 pixel, file size: 518 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 729 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (924 Ã— 760 pixel, file size: 518 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

Habitat and foraging

Unlike many of the large ungulates of Africa, the Plains Zebra prefers but does not require short grass to graze on. In consequence, it ranges more widely than many other species, even into woodland, and it is often the first grazing species to appear in a well-vegetated area. Only after zebras have cropped and trampled the long grasses do wildebeests and gazelles move in. For protection from predators like lions and spotted hyenas, the Plains Zebra retreats into open areas with good visibility at night time, and takes it in turns standing watch. It eats a wide range of different grasses, preferring young, fresh growth where available, and also browses on leaves and shoots from time to time. Orders & Clades Order Perissodactyla Eparctocyona Order Arctostylonia (extinct) Order Mesonychia (extinct) Cetartiodactyla Order Cetacea Order Artiodactyla Bulbulodentata (extinct) Family Hyopsodontidae Meridiungulata (extinct) Order Litopterna Notoungulata (extinct) Order Toxodontia Order Typotheria Ungulates (meaning roughly being hoofed or hoofed animal) are several groups of mammals most of which use the tips of... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Lion (disambiguation). ... Binomial name (Erxleben, 1777) Spotted Hyena range The Spotted Hyena, or Laughing Hyena, (Crocuta crocuta) is a mammal of the order Carnivora. ...

Subspecies

In 2004, C.P. Groves and C.H. Bell did investigations on the taxonomy of the zebra's genus Equus, subgenus Hippotigris. They published their research in Mammalian Biology. They revised the subspecies of the Plains Zebra Equus quagga. Six subspecies are recognizable. The completely maneless Somali population may represent a seventh subspecies: Equus quagga isabella (Ziccardi, 1958). This subspecies may be valid, but at present there is no evidence that it is. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 584 Ã— 600 pixels Full resolution (2233 Ã— 2293 pixel, file size: 524 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Plains Zebra ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 584 Ã— 600 pixels Full resolution (2233 Ã— 2293 pixel, file size: 524 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Plains Zebra ... The Zoological Center of Tel Aviv-Ramat Gan is a zoological park in Ramat Gan, Israel. ...

Trinomial name Equus quagga quagga Boddaert, 1785 The quagga is an extinct subspecies of the plains zebra, which was once found in great numbers in South Africas Cape Province and the southern part of the Orange Free State. ... The Dodo, shown here in a 1651 illustration by Jan Savery, is an often-cited[1] example of modern extinction. ... Burchells zebras are a species of extinct plains Zebra. ... Trinomial name Equus quagga boehmi Matschie, 1892 The Grants zebra is the smallest subspecies of the Plains Zebra. ...

External links

References

Categories: Least Concern species | Mammals of Africa | Fauna of Zambia | Fauna of Sudan | Fauna of the Sahara | Fauna of Ethiopia | Fauna of Botswana | Fauna of Tanzania | Mammals of Kenya | Fauna of East Africa | Fauna of South Africa | Fauna of the Democratic Republic of the Congo | Fauna of Angola | Fauna of Namibia | Zebras The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List and Red Data List), created in 1963, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species and can be found here. ... The World Conservation Union or International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ... The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List and Red Data List), created in 1963, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species and can be found here. ... The World Conservation Union or International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ...

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