ARCH2108 Animals, Plants and People

1. ARCH2108Animals, Plants and People

2. The Order Perissodactyla

3. The Order Perissodactyla

4. Order Perissodactyla Suborder Ceratomorpha Family Tapiridae tapirs (4 species) Family Rhinocerotidae rhinos (5 species) Suborder Hippomorpha Family Equidae horse family

5. Family Equidaeonly one living genus, Equus Subgenus Equus Equus caballus domestic horse Equus ferus wild horse Subgenus Asinus Equus asinus domestic ass (donkey) Equus africanus African wild ass Equus hemionus onager (Asian wild ass) Equus kiang kiang (Tibetan wild ass) Equus khur Indian wild ass Subgenus Hippotigris Equus zebra Mountain zebra Equus hartmannae Hartmann�s zebra Equus quagga Plains (Burchell�s) zebra Equus grevyi Gr�vy�s zebra

7. Wild horses in West European cave art

10. Some have recently been reintroduced to Mongolia from captive-bred stock

11. Przewalski horse was probably not ancestral to domestic horses

12. But there was also a European wild horse The tarpanEquus ferus ferus

13. Tarpans were known until 18th-19th century in Europe

16. The horse Has very wide visual field 215� with each eye 60-70� binocular vision Blind area behind Has simple stomach but ferments in hindgut Eats more than ruminants, less selective Because food doesn�t get held up in a sac-like stomach But less efficient breakdown of cellulose or conversion of protein Compensated by passage rate being 2x as fast

17. Feeding Mainly a grazer Browses only on new growth Paws with forehoof to dig up fleshy roots Feeds by � manipulating plants with upper lip Breaking off blades with incisors Uses tongue to ingest

18. Ranging: feral horses (mustangs) in Wild West Travel up to 16km for food or water Home range averages 2400ha Even in New Forest (England), up to 1020ha Herds not territorial Keep apart at feeding and watering sites

19. Herd structure One-male groups with several females Females have rank-order Strange mares determine dominance by kick-fights lasting 2-3 minutes Offspring of high-ranking mares tend to remain high-ranking Non-herd stallions live in bachelor bands Stallions threaten each other with ears back, lunges, attempts at biting In serious fights, threats are omitted: bite, kick, rear

20. Breeding Seasonal: spring and summer Responds to increasing day length Heat averages 7 days (range 3-30) Heats get shorter as season progresses 3 weeks between heats earlier in season shortens as season progresses Onset of oestrus very gradual Mare urinates more frequently Sexual swelling Stands with hindlegs spread, tail to one side Stallion, up to 100cc ejaculate (5-100 times artiodactyls) Penis 30-50cm long Mating takes 13 seconds Gestation averages 336 days Longer if conceive earlier in season, shorter if conceive later A post-partum oestrus (about 11 days later) Sexual maturity 15-36 months according to breed

22. Three breed-groups of domestic horses -

23. Skeletal differences

24. Ponies

25. Exmoor ponies:the most primitive coldbloods

26. Coldbloods

28. Warmbloods:Barb type

29. Primitive warmbloods

30. The pride of the warmbloods: the English Thoroughbred

31. Ebhardt�s model: four ancestral species

32. So � were there wild horses apart from tarpan and Przewalski? Tundra (Tundra pony) Pfizenmayr (1926) was told of a wild horse with long, whitish-grey hair in the Lamut country in far N.E.Siberia North Africa (Ram�s-head horse) Bagtache et al. (1988) described Equus algericus from Late Pleistocene of Allobroges, Algeria Arabia (Ur-thoroughbred) No Middle-Eastern horse remains known - nor even rumours

35. Earliest evidence for horse domestication: when and where? Dereivka, Ukraine: 4000 B.C. Very controversial Based on claims of bit-wear Botai, Kazakhstan: 3500-3000 B.C. Very controversial Same evidence Sintashta chariot burials, South Ural steppe, Russia: 2000 B.C.

37. What the Dereivka and Botai claims are based on

39. Horse-culture survived in the steppes for thousands of years: the Scythians

40. Egyptian horses

42. Knossos, Geometric period900-725 B.C.No chariots now!

43. Assyrian horses

44. The earliest evidence of stirrupsScythians: Crimea, 4th century B.C.

45. The poor relation Ass Donkey Burro Equus asinus Wild ancestor: Equus africanus

46. Differences between ass and horse

47. Alas, it�s trueDonkeys do have smaller brains

48. Where was the donkey domesticated?

49. Distribution of wild asses

51. Asian wild asses

52. Wild asses are desert animals

53. Donkeys are low-status draught and pack animals in arid and semi-arid areasA metre-high donkey can carry 50kg at 4 k/h for 25km/day

54. Arid adaptations Tolerate 25% water loss, like camel But lose water 3x as rapidly Must be watered every 4 days Body temperature fluctuates daily but not as much as camel Can drink back its water loss in 2 minutes (camel takes 10)

55. Social organisation No permanent social groups Male groups Female groups Occasionally mixed Solitary territorial males A male�s territory may be >10km2 Territory-holder tolerant towards other males in his territory as long as they don�t attempt to mate Fights between territory-holders at boundaries, but only over oestrus females

56. Very few breeds of donkey

57. Muscat donkey

58. �Half-cast� ass in Eritrea

61. Without pride of ancestry or hope of posterity

62. Value of mules Hittites rated a mule worth 3 horses or 60 sheep Can carry twice as much as a donkey, faster, for 1� times as far per day Often used for ploughing or draft, like ox; or riding, like horse Hebrews not allowed to breed them But were brought to kings of Israel as tribute Officers directed battles from mule-back In the Iliad, �a mare in foal to a jackass� was 2nd prize in a horse-race 1st was a young female slave 3rd was a carved vessel 4th was 2 talents of gold

63. Breeding mules Very difficult to persuade horses and donkeys to interbreed Commonly, jackass foals specially selected to be mule-getters, suckled on mares The mare is often covered with a donkey hide, or smeared with urine of an oestrus donkey, to stimulate the jackass In Poitou, a special aphrodisiac called �lalandage� was used to persuade the giant donkeys to mate with mares: stable boys would join hands in a circle and sing stimulating songs

64. Hinny (jennet, bardot) Has very smooth gait Hard, dense metapodials Can carry twice as much as a donkey of same size In Cyprus, mules used for harness work, hinnies for riding and pack In Ancient Egypt, used for threshing, burden Even more difficult to obtain than a mule, because stallion has shorter (!) penis than jackass

65. Hinnies: tomb of Neb-Amun, Thebes, 1400 B.C.

66. Very occasional female mules are fertile

67. What were the equids of Ancient Mesopotamia? After Postgate (1986) The Sumerians called all equids ANSE But they distinguished three kinds: ANSE.DUN.GI ANSE.EDEN.NA ANSE.BARxAN The Akkadians (after about 2200 B.C.) took over the term

68. ANSE.DUN.GI Kept with ANSE.BARxAN Receives barley rations Yoked in teams Preferred for ploughs and carts Akkadians called it ANSE.LIBIR = DONKEY

69. ANSE.EDEN.NA Occasional Kept with other equids and with cows Never yoked or harnessed Hides used = ONAGER

70. Equus hemionus hemippus, the Syrian onager

71. ANSE.BARxAN Offspring of ANSE.DUN.GI No offspring of their own Higher barley rations than other equids; more expensive Yoked in teams, preferred for chariots (especially males) Leather harnessing = donkey x onager hybrid

72. Donkey x onager hybrid bred in Tierpark Berlin

73. Is that what these equids are?

74. The Royal Standard of Ur �PEACE�

75. Horses ANSE.ZI.ZI (Sumerian)ANSE.KUR.RA (Old Babylonian)do not appear in Mesopotamian texts until 2100 B.C.(�Foreign ass�not wild�with flowing tail�)After 1800 B.C., mulesANSE.S�.AN are mentioned

76. Mules were highly valued in Assyria

77. And just for fun�