89-447: Below left: Equus ferus ferus † (tarpan) Below right: Equus ferus fossil from 9100 BC The wild horse ( Equus ferus ) is a species of the genus Equus , which includes as subspecies the modern domesticated horse ( Equus ferus caballus ) as well as the endangered Przewalski's horse ( Equus ferus przewalskii , sometimes treated as a separate species i.e. Equus przewalskii ). The European wild horse, also known as
178-487: A "beard". They were absolutely untameable and defended themselves harshly against predators. Kajetan Kozmian visited the population at Zamość as well and reported that they were small and strong, had robust limbs and a consistently dark mouse colour. Samuel Gottlieb Gmelin witnessed herds in Voronezh in 1768. Those horses were described as very fast and shy, fleeing at any noise, and as small, with small, pinned ears and
267-546: A 2003 study indicated that the Przewalski's horse is not an ancestor to modern domesticated horses. In 2018, a DNA study revealed that the horses raised for meat and milk by the Botai culture 5500 years ago were Przewalski's horses. The paper claims specifically that modern Przewalski's horses are the feral descendents of the domesticated Botai horse, although it is also possible both groups could have descended separately from
356-536: A change in the use of coastal resources and advancements in marine technology. The reasons for these changes have not been confirmed; various triggering mechanisms have been theorized such as climate change , the arrival of new people, or the struggle for resources. The South American land mammal age , the Lujanian , corresponds with the late Pleistocene. The Lujanian is a geologic period from 0.8 - 0.11Ma specifically for prehistoric South American fauna. There
445-501: A characteristic of other wild equines, might have been present in at least some European wild horses, as historic accounts report a light belly. Historic references report that most tarpans were black dun (grullo, "blue dun") colour. Some black individuals were reported to have domestic colours like white or grey legs. Authors, such as Peter Pallas, believed tarpans to be escaped farm horses. Wild horses have been present in Europe since
534-526: A dun coat. Historical reports are ambiguous on whether tarpans had standing manes like wild equines, or falling manes like domestic horses. The appearance of European wild horses may be reconstructed with genetic, osteologic and historic data. One genetic study suggests that bay was the predominant colour in European wild horses. During the Mesolithic , a gene coding a black coat colour appeared on
623-688: A horse scapula possibly exhibiting a spear wound) are associated with Acheulean stone tools made by Homo heidelbergensis , the Schöningen site in Germany (also thought to have been created by Homo heidelbergensis ) dating to around 300,000 years ago, where butchered horses are associated with wooden spears (the Schöningen spears , amongst the oldest known wooden spears), as well as the Lingjing site in Henan, China dating to 125-90,000 years ago. During
712-475: A hypothesis of various 20th-century natural scientists, including Tadeusz Vetulani , who suggested that the continuous forestation of Europe after the last ice age created forest-adapted subtype of the wild horse, which he named Equus sylvestris. However, historic references do not describe any major difference between the populations, and therefore most authors assume there was only one subspecies of western Eurasian wild horse, Equus ferus ferus. Nevertheless,
801-596: A large skull, small eyes, and a bristly muzzle. Their mane was full, with broad hooves, and curly hair. However, it is possible that these were feral and not wild horses. Herodotus described light-coloured wild horses in an area now part of Ukraine in the 5th century BCE. In the 12th century, Albertus Magnus stated that mouse-coloured wild horses with a dark eel stripe lived in the German territory, and in Denmark, large herds were hunted. Wild horses still were common in
890-507: A limited regional variation, with the notable exception of Przewalski's horse. Przewalski's horse has several unique genetic differences that distinguish it from the other subspecies, including 66 instead of 64 chromosomes , unique Y-chromosome gene haplotypes , and unique mtDNA haplotypes. Besides genetic differences, osteological evidence from across the Eurasian wild horse range, based on cranial and metacarpal differences, indicates
979-519: A mis-interpretation of the then-recent ICZN ruling on the matter, refer Groves & Grubb, 2011. The wild tarpan subspecies is E. f. ferus , Przewalski's horse is E. f. przewalskii , while the domesticated horse is nowadays normally (but not exclusively) treated as a separate species E. caballus . The rules for the scientific naming of animal species are determined in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature , which stipulates that
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#17327717628741068-551: A number of barrier islands along the Atlantic coast of North America from Sable Island off Nova Scotia , to Cumberland Island , off the coast of Georgia . Even though these are often referred to as "wild" horses, they are not truly "wild" if wildness is defined as having no domesticated ancestors. In 1995, British and French explorers encountered a new population of horses in the Riwoche Valley of Tibet , unknown to
1157-507: A population of 248 animals in the wild. Przewalski's horse has some biological differences from the domestic horse ; unlike domesticated horses and the tarpan, which both have 64 chromosomes , Przewalski's horse has 66 chromosomes due to a Robertsonian translocation . However, the offspring of Przewalski and domestic horses are fertile, possessing 65 chromosomes. Horses that live in an untamed state but have ancestors that have been domesticated are called "feral horses". For instance, when
1246-448: A short frizzly mane. The tail was shorter than in domestic horses. They were typically mouse-coloured with a light belly and legs becoming black, although grey and white horses were mentioned as well. The coat was long and dense. The horses at Zamosc were never called "tarpan" back in their lifetime. Peter Simon Pallas witnessed possible tarpans in the same year in southern Russia. He thought they were feral animals that escaped during
1335-920: A stocky type of horse living in forests and highlands was described during the 19th century in Spain, the Pyrenees , the Camargue , the Ardennes , Great Britain , and the southern Swedish upland. They had a robust head and strong body, and a long frizzy mane. The colour was described as faint brown or yellowish brown with eel stripe and leg stripes, or wholly black legs. The flanks and shoulders were spotted, some of them tended to an ashy colour. They dwelled in rocky habitats and showed intelligent and fierce behaviour. Yet, those horses were never colloquially called "tarpans". Black wild horses were found in Dutch swamps, with
1424-576: A true domestic dog have been dated to 14,200 years ago. Domestication first happened in Eurasia but could have been anywhere from Western Europe to East Asia. Domestication of other animals such as cattle, goats, pigs, and sheep did not begin until the Holocene when settled farming communities became established in the Near East. The cat was probably not domesticated before c. 7500 BC at
1513-498: Is claimed to descend from these hybrid horses, as recent research has highlighted a significant degree of anatomic difference between free-roaming Konik in the Netherlands and other modern domesticated horses. The oldest archaeological evidence for domesticated horses is from Kazakhstan and Ukraine between 6,000 and 5,500 YBP (years before present). The diverse mitochondrial DNA of domestic horses contrasts sharply with
1602-563: Is conducive for preserving fossils . Neanderthal hominins ( Homo neanderthalensis ) inhabited Eurasia until becoming extinct between 40 and 30 ka, towards the end of the Pleistocene and possibly into the early Holocene and were replaced with modern humans ( Homo sapiens ) who emerged from East Africa about 195,000 years ago. Neanderthals co-existed with the Homo sapiens until they died out. In Eurasia, extinction happened throughout
1691-682: Is currently in use as a provisional or "quasi-formal" designation by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS). Although the three oldest ages of the Pleistocene (the Gelasian , the Calabrian and the Chibanian ) have been officially defined, the late Pleistocene has yet to be formally defined. Following the brief Last Interglacial warm period (~130–115,000 years ago), where temperatures were comparable to or warmer than
1780-610: Is due to the lack of chronological information. The resemblance of Late Pleistocene species in Northern Africa to modern animals is the same as in Southern Africa but it's extremely difficult to date when these fauna came into place because of the lack of reliable samples from the mid-Pleistocene. Most of the significant fossil records are from the Maghreb because of its geology which helps to create deep caves which
1869-499: Is evidence of human habitation in mainland Australia , Indonesia , New Guinea and Tasmania from c. 45,000 BC. The finds include rock engravings, stone tools and evidence of cave habitation. In Australia, there are sites which show evidence of pollen records from the Late Pleistocene and they are mostly found in more temperate regions of the continent. Some megafauna decreased in size over time, while others remained
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#17327717628741958-491: Is not genetically possible with current technology. In 1936, Polish university professor Tadeusz Vetulani selected Polish farm horses that were formerly known as Panje horses (now called Konik) and that he believed resembled the historic tarpan and started a selective breeding program. Although his breeding attempt is well known, it made only a minor contribution to the modern Konik stock, which clusters genetically with other domestic horse breeds, including those as diverse as
2047-545: Is still heavily debated what caused the extinctions. Bison occidentalis and Bison antiquus , an extinct subspecies of the smaller present-day bison, survived the late Pleistocene period, between about 12 and 11 ka ago. Clovis people depended on these bison as their major food source. Earlier kills of camels, horses, and muskoxen found at Wally's beach were dated to 13.1–13.3 ka B.P. Over 50 genera (~ 83%) of megafauna in South and North America went extinct during
2136-612: Is substantially derived from domesticated horses, so these breeds possess domesticated traits. The term "wild horse" is also used colloquially in reference to free-roaming herds of feral horses ; for example, the mustang in the United States, and the brumby in Australia. These feral horses are untamed members of the domestic horse ( Equus caballus ), not to be confused with the truly "wild" horse subspecies extant into modern times. Wild horses were formerly widespread across
2225-465: Is that there was only one subspecies, the tarpan, Equus ferus ferus . The last individual, which died in captivity in 1909, was between 140 and 145 centimetres (55 and 57 in; 13.3 and 14.1 hands ) tall at the shoulders, and had a thick, falling mane , a grullo coat colour, dark legs, and primitive markings , including a dorsal stripe and shoulder stripes. A number of coat colour genotypes have been identified within European wild horses from
2314-669: The Bering land bridge which joined Alaska to Siberia . The last Ice Age was followed by the Late Glacial Interstadial , a period of global warming to 12.9 ka, and the Younger Dryas , a return to glacial conditions until 11.7 ka. Paleoclimatology holds that there was a sequence of stadials and interstadials from about 16 ka until the end of the Pleistocene. These were the Oldest Dryas (stadial),
2403-881: The Bølling oscillation (interstadial), the Older Dryas (stadial), the Allerød oscillation (interstadial) and finally the Younger Dryas. The end of the Younger Dryas marks the boundary between the Pleistocene and Holocene Epochs. Hominids in all parts of the world were still culturally and technologically in the Palaeolithic (Old Stone) Age . Tools and weapons were basic stone or wooden implements. Nomadic tribes followed moving herds. Non-nomadics acquired their food by gathering and hunting . Its present physical geography and climate have changed over time caused by
2492-464: The Cossacks distinguished the wild horse from the feral horse ; the latter was called Takja or Muzin . The tarpan was first described by Samuel Gottlieb Gmelin in 1771; he had seen the animals in 1769 in the district of Bobrov , near Voronezh . In 1784, Pieter Boddaert named the species Equus ferus , referring to Gmelin's description. Unaware of Boddaert's name, Otto Antonius published
2581-507: The Exmoor pony and the Dülmen pony . However, genetic studies do not set any of these breeds apart from other domestic horses. On the other hand, there has not yet been a study comparing domestic breeds directly with the European wild horse. Late Pleistocene The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy , also known as
2670-644: The Heck horse , the Hegardt or Stroebel's horse [ fr ] , and a derivation of the Konik breed, all of which have a primitive appearance, particularly in having the grullo coat colour. Some of these horses are now commercially promoted as "tarpans", although such animals are only domestic breeds and not the wild animal themselves. The name "tarpan" or "tarpani" derives from a Turkic language ( Kazakh or Kyrgyz ) name meaning " wild horse ". The Tatars and
2759-571: The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature decided that the scientific names of the wild species have priority over the scientific names of domesticated species, therefore mandating the use of Equus ferus for both the wild and the domesticated horse if the two taxa are considered conspecific. Przewalski's horse occupied the eastern Eurasian Steppes , perhaps from the Ural Mountains to Mongolia , although
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2848-693: The Japanese archipelago has been traced to prehistoric times between 40,000 BC and 30,000 BC. The earliest fossils are radiocarbon dated to c. 35,000 BC. An archeological record of Neanderthals has been found in Asia along with records of two other hominin populations, the Denisovans and Homo floresiensis . Japan was once linked to the Asian mainland by land bridges via Hokkaido and Sakhalin Island to
2937-716: The Mongolian horse and the Thoroughbred . In the early 1930s, Berlin Zoo Director Lutz Heck and Heinz Heck of the Munich Zoo began a program crossbreeding Koniks with Przewalski horse stallions, and the mares of Gotland ponies , and Icelandic horses ,. By the 1960s they produced the Heck horse . In the mid-1960s, Harry Hegard started a similar program in the United States using mustangs and local working ranch horses that has resulted in
3026-535: The Nile Valley as the Sahara was transformed from grassland to desert. The Nazlet Khater skeleton was found in 1980 and has been radiocarbon dated to between 30,360 and 35,100 years ago. Most of the knowledge of the Late Pleistocene is obtained from regions like Morocco , Algeria , Tunisia , some coastal regions of Maghreb , Libya and Egypt . The only issue with interpreting the data from this region
3115-850: The North American land mammal age scale, the Rancholabrean spans the time from c. 240,000 years ago to c. 11,000 years ago. It is named after the Rancho La Brea fossil site in California , characterized by extinct forms of bison in association with other Pleistocene species such as the mammoth . During the Late Pleistocene about 35 genera of megafauna went extinct including species such as mastodons , saber-toothed cats and giant ground sloths . Some other species went extinct in North America but not globally. it
3204-612: The Pleistocene and Holocene : those creating bay , black and leopard complex are known from the wild horse population in Europe and were depicted in cave paintings of wild horses during the Pleistocene. The dun gene , a dilution gene seen in Przewalski's horse that also creates the grullo or "blue dun" coat seen in the Konik, has not yet been studied in European wild horses. It is likely that at least some wild horses had
3293-558: The Pleistocene and ranged from southern France and Spain east to central Russia . There are cave drawings of primitive predomestication horses at Lascaux , France and in Cave of Altamira , Spain, as well as artifacts believed to show the species in southern Russian empire, where a horse of this type was domesticated around 3000 BC. Equus ferus had a continuous range from western Europe to Alaska ; historic material suggests wild horses lived in most parts of Holocene continental Europe and
3382-474: The Przewalski's horse and local domestic animals, or simply feral horses . Most studies have been based on only two preserved specimens and research to date has not positively linked the tarpan to Pleistocene or Holocene-era animals. In 2003, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature "conserved the usage of 17 specific names based on wild species, which are predated by or contemporary with those based on domestic forms", confirming E. ferus for
3471-576: The Upper Palaeolithic , there is evidence for the hunting of horses by modern humans in Europe, as well as Asia. Early Paleoindians in North America hunted the continent's native horses shortly prior to their extinction. During the 3rd millennium BC , horses were domesticated on the western Eurasian steppes, with domestic horses spreading across Eurasia around 2000 BC. Equus ferus ferus The tarpan ( Equus ferus ferus )
3560-539: The Upper Pleistocene from a stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. It is currently defined as the time between c. 129,000 and c. 11,700 years ago. The late Pleistocene equates to the proposed Tarantian Age of the geologic time scale , preceded by the officially ratified Chibanian (commonly known as
3649-526: The mammoth , mastodon , and Irish elk became extinct. Upper Paleolithic people also made paintings and engravings on walls. Cave paintings have been found at Lascaux in the Dordogne which may be more than 17,000 years old. These are mainly buffalo , deer , and other animals hunted by humans. Later paintings occur in caves throughout the world, including Altamira , Spain, and in India, Australia, and
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3738-449: The tarpan , that went extinct in the late 19th or early 20th century has previously been treated as the nominate subspecies of wild horse, Equus ferus ferus , but more recent studies have cast doubt on whether tarpans were truly wild or if they actually were feral horses or hybrids. Other subspecies of Equus ferus may have existed and could have been the stock from which domesticated horses are descended. Przewalski's horse had reached
3827-482: The Alps and interglacials (temperate phase). The evidence of the changes in climatic conditions was from fragmentary sequences in formerly glaciated areas in northern Europe . The only domesticated animal in the Pleistocene was the dog , which evolved from the grey wolf into its many modern breeds . It is believed that the grey wolf became associated with hunter-gatherer tribes around 15 Ka. The earliest remains of
3916-589: The Eurasian steppe, except for parts of Scandinavia, Iceland and Ireland. DNA obtained from a "tarpan" that lived in the steppes of the Kherson region during the mid-19th century shows its ancestry to be a mixture between horses native to Europe and found with the Corded Ware Culture , and horses closely related to the DOM2 population, the ancestors of modern domestic horses. (DOM2 horses originated from
4005-681: The Hegardt or Stroebel's horse. While all three breeds have a primitive look that resembles the tarpan in some respects, they are not genetically tarpans and the wild, predomestic European horse remains extinct. However, this does not prevent some modern breeders from marketing horses with these features as a "tarpan". In spite of sharing primitive external features, the Konik and Hucul horses have markedly different conformation with differently proportioned body measurements, thought in part to be linked to living in different habitats. Other breeds sometimes alleged to be surviving wild horses include
4094-572: The Holocene, the Late Pleistocene was dominated by the cool Last Glacial Period , with temperatures gradually lowering throughout the period, reaching their lowest during the Last Glacial Maximum around 26-20,000 years ago. Most of the world's large ( megafaunal ) animals became extinct during the Late Pleistocene as part of the Late Pleistocene extinctions , a trend that continued into the Holocene. In palaeoanthropology ,
4183-501: The Iberian peninsula. This colour spread east but was less common than bay in the investigated sample and never reached Siberia. Bay in combination with dun results in the "bay dun" colour seen in Przewalski's horses; black with dun creates the grullo coat. A loss of the dun dilution may have been advantageous in more forested western European landscapes, as dark colours were a better camouflage in forests. Pangaré or "mealy" coloration,
4272-603: The Late Pleistocene. Some species which went extinct at the end of the Late Pleistocene in Southern Africa are the giant warthog , long-horn buffalo, Southern springbok , etc. These species were common because their distribution changed in response to climatic influences on vegetation. Carnivores were more widespread due to their varying habitat requirements. In Egypt , the Late (or Upper) Palaeolithic began sometime after 30,000 BC. People in North Africa had relocated to
4361-704: The Middle Pleistocene). The beginning of the Late Pleistocene is the transition between the end of the Penultimate Glacial Period and the beginning of the Last Interglacial around 130,000 years ago (corresponding with the beginning of Marine Isotope Stage 5 ). The Late Pleistocene ends with the termination of the Younger Dryas , some 11,700 years ago when the Holocene Epoch began. The term Upper Pleistocene
4450-781: The Old World during the Late Pleistocene and early Holocene , occurring from Western Europe and North Africa (where remains are referred to as Equus algericus ), to the far north of Siberia (where they are referred to as Equus lenensis ) to East Asia. Today the only living wild horse subspecies, Przewalski's horse , which was formerly extinct in the wild, has been reintroduced to small areas spanning from its former distribution in northeast China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan, as well as areas outside of its historical distribution, including Spain. In general, wild horses are grazers that prefer to inhabit open areas, such as steppes and grasslands . They may have seasonal food preferences, as seen in
4539-673: The Pleistocene but those that happened during the Later Pleistocene were of megafauna and there were no replacements for the extinct species. Some Molluscan species went extinct but not on the same scale as the mammals living during the time. Some examples of species which extinct without replacements include the Straight-tusked elephant ( Palaeoloxodon antiquus ), Giant deer ( Megaloceros giganteus ), cave bear ( Ursus spelaeus ) and woolly rhinoceros ( Coelodonta antiquitatis ). Several large mammalian species including
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#17327717628744628-482: The Pleistocene. most mega mammals (>1000kg) and large mammals (>40kg) went extinct by the end of the Late Pleistocene. During this period there was a major cooling event called the Younger Dryas and the Clovis culture of capturing game became more prominent. Diverse factors such as climate change may have triggered this extinction but it's still in debate what the major factors were. The Late Pleistocene saw
4717-602: The Przewalski's horse, which will opportunistically consume other non-grass vegetation. Wild horses live in herds with a social hierarchy, formed by a dominant adult male or sometimes multiple males (harem stallions), as well as several mares and their offspring. The harem stallion aggressively defends his herd/harem against rival males. Upon reaching adulthood, both male and female horses disperse to other herds to avoid inbreeding, with young adult males also forming batchelor groups when they are around 3 years of age. In batchelor groups male horses engage in play and ritual behaviour, with
4806-508: The Sahara. Magdalenian hunter-gatherers were widespread in western Europe about 20 -12.500 cal BP years ago until the end of the Pleistocene. An example of this is the antler-working done by the human groups who lived in the Santimamine cave in the Magdalenian. They invented the earliest known harpoons using reindeer horn. Climatic conditions during the Late Pleistocene in Eurasia were predominantly cold with glaciation events happening in northern Europe , northwest Siberia and
4895-409: The Spanish reintroduced the horse to the Americas, beginning in the late 15th century, some horses escaped, forming feral herds; the best-known being the mustang . Similarly, the brumby descended from horses strayed or let loose in Australia by English settlers. Isolated populations of feral horses occur in a number of places, including Bosnia , Croatia , New Zealand , Portugal , Scotland and
4984-613: The Volga River and the Ural were actually feral. However, others thought that this was too speculative and assumed that wild, undomesticated horses still lived into the 19th century. Domestic horses used in warfare often were turned loose when they were no longer needed. Also, remaining wild stallions could steal domestic mares. There are some accounts from the 18th and 19th centuries of wild herds with typical wild horse features such as large heads, pinned ears, short frizzy mane and tail, but mentioned animals with domestic influence as well. The only known individual to be photographed
5073-400: The Western Eurasia steppes, especially the lower Volga-Don, but not in Anatolia, during the late fourth and early third millennia BCE. Their genes may show selection for easier domestication and stronger backs). This is not consistent with tarpans as the wild ancestor of, or a feral version of, DOM2. Nor is the tarpan a hybrid with Przewalski's horses. The "forest horse" or "forest tarpan" was
5162-434: The ancient border between tarpan and Przewalski's distributions has not been clearly defined. Przewalski's horse was limited to Dzungaria and western Mongolia in the same period, and became extinct in the wild during the 1960s, but was reintroduced in the late 1980s to two preserves in Mongolia . Although earlier researchers such as Marija Gimbutas theorized that the horses of the Chalcolithic period were Przewalski's,
5251-460: The brink of extinction , but was reintroduced successfully into the wild. The tarpan became extinct in the 19th century, but is theorized to have been present on the steppes of Eurasia at the time of domestication. Since the extinction of the tarpan, attempts have been made to reconstruct its phenotype using domestic horses, resulting in horse breeds such as the Heck horse . However, the genetic makeup and foundation bloodstock of those breeds
5340-522: The confusions of wars. These herds were important game of the Tatars and numbered between 5 and 20 animals. The horses he described had a small body, large and thick heads, short frizzly manes and short tail hair, as well as pinned ears. The colour was described as faint brownish, sometimes brown or black. He also reported of obvious domestic hybrids with light-coloured legs or grey coats . The Natural History of Horses by 19th-century author Charles Hamilton Smith also described tarpans. According to Smith,
5429-461: The earliest, again in the Near East . A butchered brown bear patella found in Alice and Gwendoline Cave in County Clare and dated to 10,860 to 10,641 BC indicates the first known human activity in Ireland . The topography and geography of Asia were subject to frequent changes such as the creation of land bridges when sea levels dropped which helped with the expansion and migration of human populations . The first human habitation in
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#17327717628745518-450: The east of Prussia during the 15th and early 16th centuries. During the 16th century, wild horses disappeared from most of the mainland of western Europe and became less common in eastern Europe as well. Belsazar Hacquet saw wild horses in the Polish zoo in Zamość during the Seven Years' War . According to him, those wild horses were of small body size, had a blackish brown colour, a large and thick head, short dark manes and tail hair, and
5607-438: The endangered Przewalski's horse ( E. f. przewalskii ). A 2015 study determined that the Przewalski and domesticated horse lineages diverged from a common ancestor about 45,000 years ago. Genetically, the pre-domestication horse, E. ferus , and the domesticated horse, E. caballus , form a single homogeneous group ( clade ) and are genetically indistinguishable from each other. The genetic variation within this clade shows only
5696-570: The genus Equus appearing on the continent during the Pliocene (5.3-2.6 million years ago). Horses are thought to have diverged from the ancestors of zebras and asses around 4 million years ago. Around 900-800,000 years ago, at the Early- Middle Pleistocene boundary, the ancestors of Eurasian wild horses crossed over the Bering Land Bridge from North America. Early horses in Eurasia are referred to species like Equus mosbachensis . North American caballine horses (which are variously referred to species like Equus scotti and Equus lambei though
5785-564: The group forming a hierarchy. Mare Przewalski's horses tend to begin giving birth around 3 years of age, with a gestation period of around 12 months, primarily giving birth in the spring or summer. Przewalski's stallions generally leave batchelor groups to begin breeding at around 5-6 years of age. In modern times the main predator of wild horses in Eurasia are wolves , though during the Pleistocene they had other predators such as cave hyenas . E. ferus has had several subspecies, those of which survived into modern times are: The latter two are
5874-419: The herds of free-ranging horses numbered from a few to hundred individuals. They often were mixed with domestic horses, and alongside pure herds there were herds of feral horses or hybrids. The colour of alleged pure tarpans was described as consistently brown, cream-coloured or mouse-coloured. The short frizzy mane was reported to be black, as were the tail and legs. The ears were of varying size, but set high on
5963-436: The images known as "horse no 2" depicted in cave paintings alongside images of Przewalski's horse. Archaic humans hunted horses hundreds of thousands of years before the dispersal of modern humans across Eurasia during the Last Glacial Period . Examples of sites demonstrating horse butchery by archaic humans include the Boxgrove site in southern England dating to around 500,000 years ago, where horse bones with cut marks (with
6052-419: The late Pleistocene contains the Upper Palaeolithic stage of human development, including the early human migrations of modern humans outside of Africa, and the extinction of all archaic human species. Paleolithic Epipalaeolithic Mesolithic Neolithic The proposed beginning of the late Pleistocene is the end of the Penultimate Glacial Period (PGP) 126 ka when the Riß glaciation (Alpine)
6141-408: The movement of tectonic plates and volcanoes but glacial cycles and sea level variation have a more significant effect on the vertebrate communities during the Late Pleistocene. The Late Pleistocene was the time when most animals evolved to resemble modern-day animals and they managed to live through the Late mid-Pleistocene since there were no extinction events of megafauna until the end of
6230-403: The name Equus gmelini in 1912, again referring to Gmelin's description. Since Antonius' name refers to the same description as Boddaert's it is a junior objective synonym . It is now thought that the domesticated horse , named Equus caballus by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, is descended from the tarpan; indeed, many taxonomists consider them to belong to the same species. By a strict application of
6319-503: The north but was unconnected at this time when the main islands of Hokkaido, Honshu , Kyushu and Shikoku were all separate entities. Human migrations happened during this time with people coming in from Eurasia . From about 28 ka, there were migrations across the Bering land bridge from Siberia to Alaska . The people became the Native Americans . It is believed that the original tribes subsequently moved down to Central and South America under pressure from later migrations. In
6408-421: The oldest available valid scientific name is used to name the species. Previously, when taxonomists considered domesticated and wild horse two subspecies of the same species, the valid scientific name was Equus caballus Linnaeus 1758, with the subspecies labeled E. c. caballus (domesticated horse), E. c. ferus Boddaert, 1785 (tarpan) and E. c. przewalskii Poliakov, 1881 (Przewalski's horse). However, in 2003,
6497-443: The only never-domesticated "wild" groups that survived into historic times. However, other subspecies of Equus ferus may have existed. In the Late Pleistocene epoch, there were several other subspecies of E. ferus which have all since gone extinct . The exact categorization of Equus remains into species or subspecies is a complex matter and the subject of ongoing work. The horse family Equidae evolved in North America, with
6586-495: The presence of only two subspecies in postglacial times, the tarpan and Przewalski's horse. A study in 2011 of DNA from bones of pre-domestication horses found that all were either bay , black or leopard-spotted . In some sources including MSW 3 (2005), the domesticated and wild horses were considered a single species, with the valid scientific name for such a single horse species being Equus ferus , although MSW erroneously used E. caballus for this (enlarged) taxon on account of
6675-403: The range of the tarpan was continuously decreased by the increasing human population of the Eurasian landmass. Wild horses were further targeted because they caused damage to hay stores and often took domestic mares from pastures. Furthermore, interbreeding with wild horses was an economic loss for farmers since the foals of such matings were intractable. Tarpans lived in the southern parts of
6764-505: The rest of the world, but apparently used by the local Khamba people. It was speculated that the Riwoche horse might be a relict population of wild horses, but testing did not reveal genetic differences with domesticated horses, which is in line with news reports indicating that they are used as pack and riding animals by the local villagers. These horses only stand 12 hands (48 inches, 122 cm) tall and are said to resemble
6853-556: The rules of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature , the tarpan ought to be named E. caballus , or if considered a subspecies, E. caballus ferus . However, biologists have generally ignored the letter of the rule and used E. ferus for the tarpan to avoid confusion with the domesticated subspecies. It is debated if the small, free-roaming horses seen in the Russian steppes during 18th and 19th centuries and called "tarpan" were indeed wild, never-domesticated horses, hybrids of
6942-543: The same ancient wild Przewalski's horses. Przewalski's horse is still found today, though it is an endangered species and for a time was considered extinct in the wild. Roughly 2000 Przewalski's horses are in zoos around the world. A small breeding population has been reintroduced in Mongolia. As of 2005, a cooperative venture between the Zoological Society of London and Mongolian scientists has resulted in
7031-570: The skull. The eyes were small. According to Smith, tarpans made stronger sounds than domestic horses and the overall appearance of these horses was mule-like. The human-caused extinction of wild horses in Europe began in Southern Europe, possibly in antiquity. While humans had been hunting wild horses since the Paleolithic , during historic times horse meat was an important source of protein for many cultures. As large herbivores,
7120-517: The steppe. In 1879 the last scientifically confirmed individual was killed. After that, only dubious sightings were documented. As the tarpan horse died out in the wild between 1875 and 1890, the last free-ranging mare considered a tarpan was accidentally killed during an attempt at capture. The last captive tarpan died in 1909 in a Ukrainian zoo in the Russian empire. The horses at Zamosc survived until 1806, when they were allegedly donated to local farmers of Poland and bred to their horses. The Konik
7209-664: The true number of species is uncertain) which genetic evidence has confirmed are closely related to Eurasian horses (with some authors treating all North American horses as part of E. ferus ) would persist on the continent until they became extinct as part of the end-Pleistocene extinction event along with most other large mammals in the Americas (including other equines like Haringtonhippus and Hippidion ) around 12,000 years ago. Ancient DNA analysis suggests North American horses were largely genetically distinct from Eurasian horses, with limited and intermittent interbreeding between
7298-518: The two populations following the initial dispersal across the Bering Land Bridge. Equus neogeus from the Pleistocene of South America may also represent a lineage of true caballine horses. Currently, three subspecies that lived during recorded human history are recognized. One subspecies is the widespread domestic horse ( Equus ferus caballus ), as well as two wild subspecies: the recently extinct European wild horse ( E. f. ferus ) and
7387-426: The undomesticated wild horse. Taxonomists who consider the domestic horse a subspecies of the wild horse should use Equus ferus caballus ; the name Equus caballus remains available for the domestic horse where it is considered to be a separate species. Traditionally, two tarpan subtypes have been proposed, the forest tarpan and steppe tarpan, although there seem to be only minor differences in type. The general view
7476-819: The very low diversity of the Y chromosome; that suggests that many mares but only a few stallions were used, and local use of wild mares or even secondary sites of domestication are likely. Therefore, the European wild horse may well have contributed to the domestic horse. Some researchers consider the tarpans to be mixed wild and feral population or completely feral horses. Few consider the more recent animals historically called "tarpans" to be genuine wild horses without domestic influence. Historic references to "wild horses" may actually refer to feral domestic horses or hybrids. Some 19th century authors wrote that local "wild" horses had hoof problems that led to crippled legs; therefore, they assumed these were feral horses. Other contemporary authors claimed all "wild" horses between
7565-667: Was a free-ranging horse population of the Eurasian steppe from the 18th to the 20th century. What qualifies as a tarpan is subject to confusion. It is unknown whether those horses represented genuine wild horses, feral domestic horses or hybrids. The last individual believed to be a tarpan died in captivity in the Russian Empire in 1909. Beginning in the 1930s, several attempts were made to develop horses that looked like tarpans through selective breeding , called " breeding back " by advocates. The breeds that resulted included
7654-461: Was a hybrid between two horse lineages, with two thirds of its genetics representing the same ancestral lineage as modern horses, and the remaining third related to a distinct lineage of European horses found at an archaeological site associated with the late- Neolithic Corded Ware culture . Three attempts have been made to use selective breeding to create a type of horse that resembles the tarpan phenotype , though recreating an extinct subspecies
7743-646: Was being succeeded by the Eemian (Riß-Würm) interglacial period . The Riß-Würm ended 115 ka with the onset of the Last Glacial Period (LGP) which is known in Europe as the Würm (Alpine) or Devensian (Great Britain) or Weichselian glaciation (northern Europe); these are broadly equated with the Wisconsin glaciation (North America), though technically that began much later. The Last Glacial Maximum
7832-709: Was reached during the later millennia of the Würm/Weichselian, estimated between 26 ka and 19 ka when deglaciation began in the Northern Hemisphere. The Würm/Weichselian endured until 16 ka with Northern Europe, including most of Great Britain , covered by an ice sheet. The glaciers reached the Great Lakes in North America. Sea levels fell and two land bridges were temporarily in existence that had significance for human migration : Doggerland , which connected Great Britain to mainland Europe; and
7921-545: Was the so-called Cherson tarpan, which was caught as a foal near Novovorontsovka in 1866. It died in 1887 in the Moscow Zoo. The nature of this horse was dubious in its lifetime, because it showed almost none of the wild horse features described in the historic sources. In 2021, a study found that the so-called 'Shatilov' tarpan, a museum specimen from the Kherson region of the Pontic–Caspian steppe that died in 1868 ,
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