Equus hydruntinus (European Wild Ass)

[Peter]

There is no detailed evidence of the state of the environment before the fourteenth century when more accurate written descriptions of the landscapes and the fauna again became common. King Alfonso XI, in his fourteenth-century Hunting Book, tells us how and where to hunt bears, wild boars (Sus scrofa) and deer in southeastern Spain, even in very and places such as El Cabezo de la Jara, between the provinces of Murcia and Almeria, or on an island near the coast which is presently called "Island of the Deer."15 This and other texts from the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries describe the same animals, as well as roe deer, wolves (Canis lupus), the common crane (Grs grs) -a bird associated with open oak woodlands, otters (Lutra lutra), and an exotic and mysterious animal known in the Middle Ages as zebra or "encebra" in Spain and Portugal." What were zebras doing in Europe? They were, in fact, a wild equine breed, probably the extinct Equus hydruntinus. At the end of the last glaciation, their range encompassed only the three Mediterranean peninsulas, Iberia, Italy, and the Balkans, and that range continued to contract until medieval times. The last place in the world where this animal lived before its extinction was likely in the north of Almeria, where the encebra survived until the sixteenth century.17 When Iberian sailors arrived in southern Africa they found a similar animal and named it the zebra.

Source: www.24hourscholar.com/p/articles/mi_qa3854/is_200101/ai_n8932818/pg_2?pi=scl.

[Peter]

Free internet translation of: "La Encebra ¿un misterioso animal extinguido?" (www.celtiberia.net/articulo.asp?id=640).

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The Encebra a mysterious animal extinguished?

During the Middle Ages, in the Iberian Peninsula some stories on a équido are done that to the 14th century, was very abundant in the plains of all the Iberia Mediterranean. Of this équido is known that was between the 14th century and XVI when its populations began to be esquilmadas due to the hunt, since the consumption of its meat very was appreciated, as well as to the destruction of its habitat and to the competence with the domestic cattle, therefore by being treated the habitat of extensive plains, this very was appropriated for the settlements cattle raisers and agrarian. This équido received the name of Encebra in Spaniard, and of Zebra or Zebro so much in Portuguese as in Spaniard.

They not many references of this animal during the Middle Ages despite its abundance exist, but some works they cite them, as “Hunting of Alfonso XI”, writing of the first half of the s.xiv, “Relation of Chinchilla” of 1.576, that does a brief description of the encebra, “Art Cisoria” of E. Villena and other literary works, Valencian texts of the s.xv, as well as in the “Romance of the King Marsín”.

In the “Relation of Chinchilla” mentions "...a way of yeguas ashen, of rat hair color, a little mochinas, that whinnied like yeguas and they ran more than the best horse and they name them encebras." (Towers Fontes and Molina Molina, 1.980).

In “Art Cisoria” explains that the meat of encebra is eaten "to remove peresa" (Corominas and Paschal, 1.984).

In the “Romance of the King Marsín” describes “fuyendo goes the king Marsín, gentleman in a zebra, not by decline of rocín".

Thus same, this animal has left some topónimos by the peninsular geography, just as The Encebras (Jumilla -Murcia-)), Encebras (Pinoso -Alicante-), Valdencebro (Teruel) and the Portuguese Zebreira, Zebros, Mount two Zebros (Beira Baixa) and Is worth gives Zebra (Ribatejo).

By the texts mentioned, as well as by other literary works, they cause they know us that the encebras, zebros or zebras, were fast and unfriendly animals, as well as runners by excellence, équidos of layer (fur) gray, with a black line that arises in the homoplatos and finishes in tip on the forward thighs, another black line that travels through the back (on the vertebrae) since the neck to the queue, and marks Acebradas in the extremities.

So much by these phenotypic characteristics, like by the circumstance of that the texts mentioned do not specify clearly what class of équido treated, has carried to the confusion to the historians, therefore these they suppose that the encebras were wild burros, therefore the lines acebradas are given in these équidos, and although of uncertain origin, therefore not remainders exist recent fossils of these “burros”, they have been attributed therefore to these animals, To descendants of burros imported and become woodland in Iberia by north african cultures and of the oriental mediterranean.

The fact that be to known équidos with marks acebradas in Iberia, and to that the Portuguese wrote down in the African coasts, what permitted to know to the horses of the Africa sub-saharan, did that al to see them also with marks acebradas, also they called them as zebras.

Fossils and cave paintings.

The only remainders fossils of équidos existing al less in the last 30.000 to 20.000 years, that are known in the Iberian Peninsula, they belong to a single species of horse, called as Equus ferus or Equus przewalskii gmelini, and whose common name is Tarpán. Seems to be that during the prehistory various types of horses existed, existing among the European tarpanes, a subespecie western and another oriental. According to the present tarpanes of Poland, this species of horse is of small size, with a height of 130 cms., color of layer of zaíno to tostado, crin and purely black or black queue and white, of gray and ashen aspect. It possesses a stripe dark brown number, and dark and wide stripe that goes since the central part of the crines to the queue, with clearer hairs to both sides, producing an effect of variegado with blond sparkles that depends on toward that side inclines the hair. They can appear you line type zebra, in the forequarters and in the internal part of the thighs, as well as also stripes in the body. The winter fur can be occasionally white if they live in very cold climates. The head is extended and wide with the slightly concave face, extensive nasal orifices and also long ears. Strong and short neck that splits of some powerful shoulders.

Characteristic as the form of the head and expensive, already they appear in cave paintings of the Cave of the Basin, dated between 30.000 and 20.000 years, but as opposed to the tarpanes oriental and of the modern horses, the tarpanes present in Iberia presented an expensive one subconvexa, just as testify also its remainders fossils. It seems to exist also, some cave paintings in saws turolenses, in which the bodies of these tarpanes with its grooves are shown acebradas on the body.

The Horse Sorraiano.

In the year 1920, the zoólogo Portuguese Ruy d' Andrade discovered among the plains of the river Sorraia and its affluent Sister and Raia, a herd of different, wild horses to the domestic horses, but with present characteristics in three modern races, the horse Marismeño, the Andalusian one and the Portuguese one. Ruy d' Andrade, and due to the distribution of these wild horses, nominated to these horses with the gentililicio of the name of the river Sorraia.

The similarities with the horse Marismeño, Andalusian and Portuguese permitted to deduce that the wild Sorraiano was the direct ancestor of these three races. But a more it detailed study of the anatonomía, phenotype and genotype of these horses, and the comparison of these data with the fossils and cave paintings, they have tested that is a matter of the authentic Iberian wild horse, having maintained without barely genetic variation, with the old tarpanes Iberian, being therefore one of the subespecies of existing horse in Eurasia in epoch prehistórica.

The Sorraiano has a raised that patrols between 120 and 130 cms., the layer is of grayish color hair of mouse, or well parduzco, with a stripe dark number on the homoplatos and another dark stripe along the back, marks acebradas in the extremities and the tips of black color, these marks acebradas of the extremities are very patents in the young copies. It possesses a winter fur of wooly aspect. So much the crin as the queue, is of white and black color, giving him a gray and ashen aspect. Its head is large, of straight or somewhat convex profile. Due to that good part of the race survives in wild state, its conformación global has certain changeability.

Some of the copies found by Ruy d' Andrade, they were captured to preserve to this subespecie of horse of the extinction. At present some 200 heads exist of sorraianos, subject to plans of recovery.

Encebras, Tarpanes and Sorraianos.

As we have seen, the Tarpán and the Sorraiano, they are very similar phenotypically, almost equal. Between the present one tarpán oriental and the sorraiano, a small genotypic and phenotypic variation exists, already to that the sorraiano corresponds with the subespecie western or Iberian of tarpán, but if photographs of both are observed subespecies, a profane one will not know to distinguish a subespecie of the other. As for the data contributed by the historic texts on encebras, the fossils and cave paintings of tarpanes Iberian and the study of the phenotype and genotype of the horse sorraiano, they show that the Encebra, the Tarpán Iberian and the Horse Sorraiano, they are the same one subespecie of horse.

We are therefore before a rediscovery of the Encebra, a équido that was believed extinguished from al less, in the middle of the s.XVI, owed al fat error of the historians al to consider that the encebras were wild burros, instead of different wild horses from the domestic horses, and that the medieval writers knew to distinguish very well. But yes a trail exists that tells us of what class of équido treats, and the fact is that in the “Relation of Chinchilla” when says: “...que they whinnied like yeguas. ..” could not try another animal that was not a horse, therefore all we know that no donkey is capable of whinnying, only rebuznan, although one must recognize that the following phrase: “...y they ran more than the best horse and they name them it gives to place to the confusion al to cause to think that is a matter of two équidos different, but is not this the sense of the phrase, but the correct sense of the phrase is the one that gives us to understand that is distinguished to two different types from horse, one savage (useless for the war due to their low stature) and another servant (that were of greater height And therefore more competent for the battle).

The rocambolesca history of the Encebra.

Therefore if this it was the avatar of this subespecie of horse in Iberia, the fact of the Spanish conquest of America he supposed the transfer of copies of encebras to just American lands before its almost disappearance in Iberia, therefore due to its resistance and fortress al climate, to the works and to the shortage of food, as well as to its characteristics for the career, this wild horse was very apt To carry out the conquest of these lands.

Currently the descendants of these encebras, is the very well-known and wild one Mustang, that possesses in the majority of its copies, the same genotypic and phenotypic characteristics that the Iberian horse sorraiano, in fact, so much is so the Mustang receives in the United States as new name “Sorraia Mustang”. In spite of their equality with the sorraianos Portuguese, themselves is not called them equal, therefore seems to be that is considered that the sorraiano Portuguese is purer than the American, among the ones that they seem to exist light genetic influences in some copies of other Spanish horses exported.

Thus therefore, an error of analysis in the old texts as the ignorance to recent date of the wild horse sorraiano, has done to think that the encebra was a équido extinguished, but always they been present with a meager population in the border hispanoportuguesa, and with a more abundant population in the mountains of North America. But despite the American population of horses sorraianos, they continue remaining in serious danger of extinction, motive by which, are developing plans for their conservation, although unfortunately, the majority of these plans only they are carried out to level of private owners and associations, draining the lump once more the States implied.

[Peter]

Free internet translation of: es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebro.

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Equus hydruntinus Regàlia, 1904
Extinction Date: about 1500 AD.

Zebro is the name that was given during the Middle Ages in Portugal, Lion and Castile to certain species of équido wild that inhabited in some zones of the Iberian Peninsula before being extinguished to ends of the fifteenth century. In the Crown of Aragon more known as Zebra or Encebra.

The medieval chronicles describe al zebro as a similar animal al domestic, but higher, strong burro and strong, besides very fast in the career and enough bad temper. The fur was gray (" of hair of rat" is a typical comment in the medieval descriptions) interrupted by a dark band along the back. It seems that the nose was also dark, while the legs presented you line white and black under the knee. They lived in flowed that they wandered preferably by plains, although the hunt (their meat very was appreciated, especially by the noble) and the competence with the pets by the pastures they were pushing them little by little toward the mountainous zones. From ends of the fifteenth century or principles of the XVI the zebro disappears of the hunting chronicles, probably by to have extinguished in that epoch, although there are remote descriptions in subsequent writings.

The identity of the zebro very has been discussed during enough time. In a first moment thought themselves about that was a matter of simple burros escaped and become woodland, perhaps of the subespecie north african Equus asinus atlanticus introduced a short time before of the Roman conquest, but there is too many things that do not insert with this possibility, especially their proverbial timid and unfriendly behavior, the great one raised and the fact that they whinnied like horses. The possibility that was a matter of a then endemic, different species of the Peninsula, became increasingly more strong, and in the years 80 and 90 remainders were discovered subfósiles of historic epoch of Equus hydruntinus, so much previous as after the introduction of the domestic burro in the Iberian Peninsula by the Phoenicians in the century VIII adC. Equus hydruntinus is a species of équido extinct, similar to a burro of great postage, that was described initially in deposits pleistocénicos of all the European continent, and that seemed to have extinguished completely al final of the last glaciation (c.8000 adC). But for which it is seen, survived during a lot more remote time in the Iberian Peninsula. At present is given for insurance that this species was the one that received later the name of zebro, therefore moreover cave paintings have been found that show long ears and you line with the same disposition in the body that describe the medieval writings and that themselves do not they correspond with the burro neither with the two species of equine that they populated Europe in epoch prehistórica or historic, the tarpán (Equus Caballus gmelini) and the onagro (Equus hemionus onager). Al to seem, the Iberians tried to domesticate al zebro in several occasions but always they failed (¿the proverbial bad temper again, perhaps?), for which received willingly the donkeys brought by the merchants of east.

They remain two curiosities by counting on the zebro. The first one is that the last place where was abundant, the southeast of the Peninsula, various preserve topónimos related to this animal, like Valdencebro (Teruel), Encebras (Alicante), or The Encebras (Murcia) in Spain and Ribeira of Zebro, in the concelho of Moura, in Portugal. The second, that when the Portuguese comenzarona to explore the African seaboard and they arrived al Tip of Good Hope, to ends of the fifteenth century, they found some equine bordered that they resulted notably seemed by the form and the size to the females of the zebros, and because of it they decided to call them zebras. "Zebra" is the name that receive nowadays these animals in almost all the languages of the world. A pretty posthumous gift of the zebro.

[david]

right, that was slightly confusing. From what I could get there was an ass in Iberia that was a wild subspecies and not feral. It's wild heaitage daates back to the ice age. Did it have stripes? I thought that that was what it said but...?? They now susspect that it could still exist because a some newly discovered subspecies of horse that can also claim constant wild desentets were found? If I am right, am I the only one that finds this a little far fetched?

[Peter]

Well, I don't know! It might have been the Equus hydruntinus, or the Sorraiano, a horse breed in Spain that most likely is a direct descendant of a wild European horse subspecies. Or maybe even still is (I haven't seen any genetic research on this yet).

The wild European horse did have stripes! It is a wild characteristic. Several konik horses for example do have a eel stripe (dorsal stripe over the vertebrates), stipes on their neck downwards, and stripes on their legs. Some have also different colours in the manes.

Here this drawing I've made of the Tarpan (eastern European Horse subspecies) shows these stripes:

[Bucardo]

Hi all! I'm a new guy in the forum! ;D Please, excuse me for my bad english.

Contestation to David:

"From what I could get there was an ass in Iberia that was a wild subspecies and not feral."

Medieval and modern descriptions distinguish zebros/encebras, asses and horses without doubts. However, the hypothesis that identify zebros as feral asses were popular in the past.

"Did it have stripes?"

Yes, but only in legs and possibly neck (like quaggas, tarpans, wild asses and some domestic asses and horses) Moreover, a dark band cross the body from neck to tail (like mules and Przewalski's horse). Rest of body was dark grey.

Contestation to Peter:

"It might have been the Equus hydruntinus, or the Sorraiano, a horse breed in Spain that most likely is a direct descendant of a wild European horse subspecies. Or maybe even still is (I haven't seen any genetic research on this yet)."

Not. The sorraino is a simple horse breed, no other species like Equus hydruntinus. This equid is describe by paleozoologist as a zebra-like ass, obviusly not a horse!
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There are many medieval and modern descriptions of encebras from Spain and (I suppose) Portugal. In "Relación de Chinchilla" (1576), for example, encebras are described as "a manera de yeguas cenizosas, de color de pelo de rata, un poco mochinas, que relinchaban como yeguas y corrían más que el mejor caballo y las nombran encebras" ("like ashy mares, rat-like hair, a bit "mochinas" -ancient spanish word, I don't know its meaning- that whinned like mares and runned fast of any horse and [people] called it encebras").

Examples of Medieval proverbs and verses about encebras:

-"[El rey Marsín fue] caballero en una zebra, no por mengua de rocín" ("[King Marsín were] knight on a zebra [encebra], not for lower of horse"). (anonime, 1500).

-"[Carne de encebra] para quitar peresa" ("[Encebra meat] for take away laziness"). (Enrique of Villena).

-"del lobo e del zebro; | "[because] the wolf and the zebro;
¿por qué alongaremos? | why we prolong [the working]?
Al noble rey don Pedro | To noble king don Pedro [refering to Peter I of Castille]
estas mañas veemos." | this sophistrys we see"
(Sem Tob, "Moral Proverbs" ca. 1400)

In adition, the French Language Dictionary "Le Petit Robert" (1610) define Zebra (Zebbra, ancient form for Zèbre) as "origine nom d´ un équide sauvage de la péninsule ibérique, applié ensuite á l´animal d´Afrique" ("original name of a wild equid from the Iberian Peninsula, assign to the animal from Africa"); and the italian "Nuovo Zingarelli" (1986) define it as "Zebra - voce iberica col sign "di onagro" (d´origine incierta) passata`poi, per tramite port., nel Congo, a designare l´animale esotico" ("Zebra - iberic word meaning "onager" (of uncertain origin) passed on portuguese to call the exotic animal").

Carlos Nores Quesada and Corina Liesau von Lettow-Vorbeck, archaeologists, published an article ("La Zoología Histórica como complemento de la Arqueozzología. El caso del Zebro", "Historical Zoology like complement of Archaeozoology. The Zebro's case") in wich affirms that the medieval Zebro/Encebra is the ancient Equus hyruntinus, found in several post-glacial iberian deposits (at the time when E. hydruntinus were extinct at rest of Europe and Middle East). The article's abstract is this:

"SUMMARY: The paper documents what can probably be considered the last megafaunal extinction event in the Iberian Peninsula, namely that of the half-ass locally called zebro or encebro, from a double toponymic and historiographical perspective. Since there are serious hints that this animal might correspond to the Equus hydruntinus of the european pleistocene, the work constitutes what will be a first attemp to solve this long-standing paleontological riddle, a riddle in which archaeozoological findings are already starting to provide data as well."

A curious case is that castilans not called "zebras" to african equids. In 1260, the sultan of Egypt sent various animals as gifts to king Alphonse X of Castile; one of this animal were a zebra, (posibly Equus grevyi) that a medieval cronicle define as "asna buidada" ("stripped female ass"). In 1488, when portuguese reached the "Storm Cape" (future Cape of Good Hope), they found zebras... but not "normal" zebras... Quaggas! Quaggas had strippes only in legs and neck, like zebros/cebros/encebras. This is the reason because they called the quaggas as "zebras", and then, the rest of african stripped horses adopted this name. Ironically, the modern zebras received the name from TWO! extinct mammals. ;D

Regards!

[Peter]

Welcome to the forum Bucardo! I'm glad to have you hear, and I'm already reding your posts with much interest. ..and your English is good, or at least as good as ours, as many more members here don't have English as they native language. Mine for example is Dutch.

Thanks for the information on this species. Most information is in Spanish, and I don't speak that language sadly enough.

According to some scientists the Sorraino horse might be a direct ancestor of the wild European horse, like the Polish koniks, maybe from an Iberian or south European subspecies. Although not everyone agrees on that. If you know any additional information on that or articles, please post that on the forum.

So it has been a true species, different from the Sorraino horse and the Equus hydruntinus! Has it been given a scientific name?

[david]

HiBucardo,
I am from England and can tell you that your english is fine. Far better than my French and German. I can't speak spanish either. Peter keeps talking about some horse that could be a decendent from some spanish tarpan. I'm sceptical.

This species that we are talking about, Encebra, it is a compleatly different species? It is a Type of modern Zebra? I have never heard of it. It has been described as a 'half ass' what is the difference between that and a full ass? It calls it Equus hydruntinus is that full ass.

[Bucardo]

Welcome to the forum Bucardo! I'm glad to have you hear, and I'm already reding your posts with much interest. ..and your English is good, or at least as good as ours, as many more members here don't have English as they native language. Mine for example is Dutch.

Thanks, your web is great! I had been seen it during months. ;D

According to some scientists the Sorraino horse might be a direct ancestor of the wild European horse, like the Polish koniks, maybe from an Iberian or south European subspecies. Although not everyone agrees on that. If you know any additional information on that or articles, please post that on the forum.

Hmmm, it's a complex issue. Wild horses (possibly various subspecies) occurs in Iberia in ancient times, but I don't think that this horses were domesticated by the ancient Hispani. Archaeological sites shows that domestic horse breeds in Iberia were similar to other european breeds, probably bring in the Iberian Peninsula with indoeuropean invasors from France.

However, roman cronicles may be guide to confussion. For example, Appianus says that in Hispania were abundant "mountain horses" that, when they were captured by spaniards, the animals become docil horses that obey all orders from its owner. Well, this were accepted in the first decades of XX century, but today is refused. The archaeologycal sites shows that authentic wild iberian horses (smaller and more robust) were decreasing during roman conquest of Hispania; probably, the horses that mentioned Appianus and others actually were domestic horses, keep by Cría Brava sistem like today in certains regions of Spain and Portugal (in this sistem, animals live on nature when they are young, and tame later). It's not probable that the horse were domesticated in Iberia, apart from other regions of Europe.

So it has been a true species, different from the Sorraino horse and the Equus hydruntinus! Has it been given a scientific name?

Bhuf! I don't believe it.

This species that we are talking about, Encebra, it is a compleatly different species?

Yes, if we identificate the encebra as Equus hydruntinus. In the past, some authors suggests that encebras were feral asses, but this idea is not common now.

It is a Type of modern Zebra?

No. Equus hydruntinus were more relative to onagers and asses, but the species have some "zebra-like" characteristics in bones and teeth due to convergence evolution (similar case to western horse from North America, Equus caballus occidentalis, that is called "western quagga" sometimes).

It has been described as a 'half ass' what is the difference between that and a full ass? It calls it Equus hydruntinus is that full ass.

"Half-ass" is a common name to asian wild asses, also known as hemions (from greek hemi onus, "half ass" or "false ass") or onagers (onus agrios, "wild ass"). "True" or "full" asses are the african species, including the domestic donkey (that originated in Egypt). Actually, Equus hydruntinus were also relative to two groups.

[Peter]

Thanks Bucardo. Interesting.

david said:

Peter keeps talking about some horse that could be a decendent from some spanish tarpan. I'm sceptical.

I remain skeptical too, until I see some genetic or other proof. But fact is that it is a primitive horse (breed). Cis van Vuure that has published a comprehensive research on the aurochs is now doing research on the Wild European Horse and the Konik horse. I can't wait for the result of his research, although that can take years!

According to scientists that have published a paper on the horse claim that the horse subspecies in Western Europe (including UK and Iberian peninsula) was Equus caballus caballus. The Sorraia could have been a descendant, I don't know. The Tarpan (Equus caballus ferus) lived in central and easern Europe.

EDIT PETER: I posted that Equus caballus mosbachensis was the northwestern subspecies, but hat is wrong. It was Equus caballus caballus.

[david]

According to The history of british mammals, the horse couldn't cope with the spreading forest and moved east to the steppe where it remained until domestication. To find refuge in Iberia it would have to pass forest. I the theory is right, sorraia who be more closly related to wild british horses than Tarpan.

[Peter]

I posted in a previous post that Equus caballus mosbachensis was the northwestern subspecies, but hat is wrong. It was Equus caballus caballus. Equus caballus mosbachensis was the South-Central European Horse, not on the Iberian peninsula by the way.

[another specialist]

also look at this thread - a related thread

extinctanimals.proboards22.com/index.cgi?board=artiodactyla&action=display&thread=1124367825

[Bucardo]

html.rincondelvago.com/fauna-neolitica-en-andalucia.html

Neolithic Fauna in Andalusia.

*The subsisting economy in the Andalusian Neolithic. The fauna.

There are few deposits with stratigraphy in the province of Grenada, even some of them stablished problems of classification and cronology (Los Murciélagos de Albuñol). In this deposit, although we don't take into account the fauna found in ancient excavations neither the studied and classified recently because the reasons exposed, it be suited to the existence of Triticum aestivium L., Pinus pinea and Quercus wood, found in the mackerel site.

Later, the fauna were analysed by Doctor Uerpman (1979). To the species set by him in his classification, we must add to remains of Equus (Equus) caballus and Equus (Asinus) hydruntinus that he cites in other publication. The level distribution is maked through referentes to the stratigraphy stablished by M. Pellicer.

The remains of domestic species constitute the major part of the rests, and wild animals are the obvious minority. The most remarkable species may be the ovi-caprids [?], followed by the sheep, the goat and the rabbit and, further, the boar [and] the deer.

(…)

*Conclusion.

In short, may be say that the deposits attribute to the old Neolithic in Andalusia are scarce and problematic as for chronology. In that moments are important the wild animals, decaying at the final of this stage and emphasized again at the beginning of last Neolithic, fact that Uerpmann connect with the agriculture boom. In any case, it is verified the predominance of the ovicaprids and the importance of the deer among the wild species, as well as the presence of the horse and the Equus hydruntinus. The thickness of the deposits of this zone has been attributed to a medium-final Neolithic. Nevertheless, the two of Jaén that belong to a phase that we would be able to thik paralellel with an epicardial [?] they show oppressing majority of wild animals, which indicates that the environment is important and that each human group develops its economy in a different way. It is verified likewise in the case of the find of cereals of Zuheros, whose structure due to the reasons aimed or to a selection
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tetide.geo.uniroma1.it/sciterra/pubdip/publicaz/07_vert.html

Equus hydruntinus is recorded for the first time in Europe in level referred to "Mindel-Riss" and survived [in Italy] until to Neolithic time. Its limb bones show cursorial adaptations on hard grounds and open, arid, grasslands. In central Italy this species is recorded for the first time in levels referred to isotopic stage 7 from Sedia del Diavolo (Rome). During the stadials of the Last Glaciation the populations were not so very numerous as during the interstadials.
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www.rac.uab.es/bibliografia/articles/AHP/ICE1.pdf

The equids in Spain. (Scientific American article)

(…) Although in ancient times could have exist zebras or closely relatives of them –like the zebro (Equus hydruntinus) that during many time were confused with a wild ass [?]-, in present Spain we found only horses and donkeys; none of them in the wild. (…)
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oblogdoalex.blogspot.com/2004_06_27_oblogdoalex_archive.html

In some medieval texts about the hunting art, the zebro was described as a mare-like animal, with ash hair, “of rat color” with a line that go trough the back from neck to tail and a dark snout.
The word ZEBRO or zevro could have it origin in the arabic term “ZARB” to call “wild ass”. So, the etymological of word “zebro” reside an explanation for the mysterious medieval animal. The ZEBRO was, ordinary, a feral donkey that reproduced across the lands and hills covered of undergrowths. They were hunted in Medieval Times until extinction about the XVI century. The ZEBRO survived scarcely sufficient to lend the name to the striped animals that Portuguese saw in the African steppes during the Discovery epoch.



There are some that claims that the ZEBRO was the “Equus Hydruntinus” [with incorrect capital letter in the original], an European prehistoric equid that could been survived in some regions of Portugal and the South of Spain until the XVI Century, and that was thinking that was extinct since about 12 thounsand years ago. There had been found some evidences of presence of this Palaeolithic animal in archaeological sites from Neolithic (around 7 thousand years ago) and the Bronze Age (around 4 thousand years ago) that may give some consistence to this theory of survival of ZEBRO or wild donkey until Modern Times.
In Medieval Times, was eating meat of animals today non existence or scarce hunted in the weeds and forests. One of them was the Zebro, or wild donkey. The rights recovered for lords about the hunting of this animal were limited to the sold skins but its meat might also valued by the peasants, like the wild boar, the red deer and the fallow deer.
The deforestation initiated with big rhythm from the XII Century with the growing human occupation of the space, provoked the disappearance of these wild animals of big size and more dangerous that had the bushes and forests as refuge. However, in some villages of the Interior still present customs that are related with the already disappeared animals. This is the case of the villages of concelho de Pinhel like Manigoto and As Lameiras, where survived the custom of eat donkey meat, of domestic because the wild become extinct around 400 years ago. In these villages the donkey was sacrificed in occasion of popular festivities and eaten by all the inhabitants in a big public dinner-party that make realize to we the great dinner-parties achieved by the Lusitanian people and described by Strabo at the time of roman conquest of the Peninsula. Practices that are forbidden today, in order to avoid the extinction of domestic donkey that happened with it wild cousin.

Manuel Sabino Perestrelo. O Interior nº 234, 24/6/04
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www.omda.bg/bulg/HYSTORY/selishte19.htm

The continental part of Dobroudja, as well as its Black sea coastal area are comparatively dry in comparison to the rest of Bulgaria. In the dry valleys there are currents only at abundant rainfalls or intensive thawing of snows. The Dobroudja coast has sharp temperature amplitudes (variations from -1 to 23o C) and low precipitation (430 - 480 mm), which increases with the distance from the sea.

The early Holocene vegetation is now destroyed or modified due to the millennial human activities. Scarce spots of it are preserved only in isolated areas. The paleobotanic studies of the lagoons in Shabla and Durankulak carried out in recent years allowed to approximately reconstruct the variability of plant species in the southern part of Dobroudja. They provide the possibility to restore a part of the general paleoecology in the region of the north-western Black sea coast from the beginning of the Holocene till modern times. It is interesting to note the presence of the wild steppe ass (Equus /Hemionus/ hydruntinus danubiensis) in Dobroudja during the Neolithic. Remains from this glacial species have been excavated in large amounts at Durankulak, Tekirgoel, Cherna voda and other archaeological sites. Some wild and domesticated animal species have also been discovered helping to complete the total ecological picture; these are as follows:

a) domesticated species: cattle, swine, sheep, goat and dog;

b) wild species: red deer, roe, wild boar, wild horse, wild steppe ass, rabbit, badger, wolf, traces of birds, turtle and fish. There is also some evidence for the presence of lion, beaver and bear, though in smaller percentage.

The general conclusion is that only in the second half of the 4th millennium B.C. there already existed a suitable, although not very comfortable environment for exploitation by neolithisation tribes. This circumstance retarded the permanent settlement of the Neolithic man in these regions with over half a millennium.
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Probable data of extinction of Equus hydruntinus:

-Middle East: 12000 years ago

-Central and northern Europe, Russia: At the beginning of the Holocene, 10000 years ago.

-Italy, Balkans: Beginning of Neolithic in that regions, 7000-6000 years ago

-Iberian Peninsula: 500-400 years ago?
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EDIT:Added one text more.

[another specialist]

or commonly called Steppe ass (Equus hydruntinus)

[Carlos]

Looking at equine representations dating from 20.000 years ago in caves in Cadiz an Malaga provinces (Andalusia, Spain) in the net, both engravings and paintings, I've found various horses, like these examples:

All of them correspond, without doubt to the extinct Pleistocene wild horse, looking at the head profiles and short ears.

But, among the equine representations, there is one, found in Las Palomas Cave (in Tarifa, the southernmost tip of Europe, in the Straits of Gibraltar), that shows an Equus with a different head profile and long ears, very much donkey-like. I wonder if it could represent an Encebra (Equus hydruntinus).

The original painting is very feebly and pale now, so I show it also digitally enhanced:

[another specialist]

thanks carlos for images - very interesting

[RSN]

I´ve made a sketch on this species based on the texts of last topics:



Please tell me two things:
It´s a real species or only a hybrid?
The drawing is acurate or I need make changes?

[another specialist]

Its not a hybrid but a species in my opinion. But not sure if its officially declared as valid by everyone.
Your drawing is good but i think personally the neck too long too stretched out.

[Carlos]

Yes. It is an extinct equid species, of the same (older) lineage of wild asses and zebras, different from caballine equids.

This is a paleontological record of Equus hydruntinus from Caldeirâo Cave in Portugal:

Davis, S.J.M. (2002). The mammals and birds from the Gruta do Caldeirâo, Portugal. Revista Portuguesa de Arqueologia. Vol. 5. Num 2. 2002, p. 29-98.

pp. 50-51:

“Southern Europe was once inhabited by a small species of equid, the so-called Otrantine ass, Equus hydruntinus, first described by Regalia in 1907 from a cave in Apulia, southern Italy (see also Stehlin and Graziosi, 1935). Equus hydruntinus had characteristic zebra-like teeth in which the lingual folds are “V” shaped and their buccal folds in the molar penetrate completely between the flexids often touching the lingual fold. Cardoso (1995) describes two upper molar teeth from Pedreira das Salemas (Loures, near Lisbon) dating to the “late Würm”, which, on the basis of their small size, he identifies as E. hydruntinus. This species of equid is also reported from three sites in Spain (Geraards, 1997). Unfortunately no complete teeth that can be assigned to this small equid were found at Caldeirâo. However, the occlusal surface of a partially digested lower cheek tooth (Mousterian, see Fig 26) shows clear penetration between the two flexids of the buccal fold. It may have belonged to Equus hydruntinus. E. hydruntinus limb-bones however tend to be slender and its terminal phalanges are pointed. Two poorly preserved equid terminal phalanges from Caldeirâo are illustrated in Fig 16. Note the great size difference between these two species. They undoubtedly belong to two different species of equids. The pointed anterior “edge” of the smaller one makes it quite likely to have belonged to E. hydruntinus.