Equus capensis
Temporal range: Pleistocene
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Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Equidae
Genus: Equus
Subgenus: Hippotigris
Species:
†E. capensis
Binomial name
†Equus capensis
Broom, 1909

Equus capensis (E. capensis), the Giant Cape zebra, is an extinct species of zebra[1] that lived during the Pleistocene of South Africa. E. capensis was first described from the Cape Town region of South Africa in 1909.[2] E. capensis can be estimated to have grown to about 150 cm (59 in) at the withers and 400 kg (880 lb) in body mass.[1]

A 2009 DNA study analyzed several museum specimens identified as Cape zebras and concluded that all specimens tested clustered within the plains zebra, Equus quagga, with E. q. quagga and E. q. burchelli, rather than belonging to a distinct species.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b Eisenmann, Vera (January 2000). "EQUUS CAPENSIS (MAMMALIA, PERISSODACTYLA) FROM ELANDSFONTEIN" (PDF). Palaeontologia Africana. 36: 91–96. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  2. ^ Churcher CS (2006) Distribution and history of the Cape zebra (Equus capensis) in the Quaternary of Africa. Trans Roy Soc SAfr 61(2):89–95
  3. ^ Ludovic Orlando; Jessica L. Metcalf; Maria T. Alberdi; Miguel Telles Antunes-Dominique Bonjean; Marcel Otte; Fabiana Martin; et al. (2009). "Revising the recent evolutionary history of equids using ancient DNA". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. 106 (51): 21754–21759. Bibcode:2009PNAS..10621754O. doi:10.1073/pnas.0903672106. PMC 2799835. PMID 20007379.


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