Carol Hall does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. In many ways, zebra appear very like horses or ponies, given their size. Yet underlying differences in behaviour have meant that while horses and donkeys have been successfully domesticated, the zebra remains predominantly wild. So how did the zebra avoid the load bearing, farm working, fence jumping fate of its cousins?
And which animal ended up with the better deal? Because of their obvious similarity to horses — and for novelty value — attempts have been made by humans to ride and race zebra. The movie, Racing Stripes , was the story of a young zebra who wanted to compete in horse races — although the filmmakers were forced to use a horse stand-in for some scenes the tail gives it away.
The manes and tails of zebra are in fact more similar to those of asses donkeys and reflect the evolutionary history of the genus Equus. Although horses, assess and zebra all evolved from a common ancestor Hyracotherium which lived in Europe and North America around 55m years ago, divergence meant that the zebra and donkey are more closely related to each other than either is to the horse.
The North American equids members of the horse family disappeared about , years ago, and in Europe and Asia, Palaeolithic man extensively hunted the herds of wild horses on the open plains.
They look so much alike that many people wonder if zebras can actually mate with horses. Can a Zebra and a Horse Mate? Zebras and horses can mate with one another and successfully produce offspring. Thanks to their genetic similarities, it is scientifically possible, albeit rare for a horse and a zebra to mate.
Not all pairings between a horse and a zebra are successful and when they are, the resulting offspring is almost always unable to reproduce themselves. The more you know about zebra and horse crosses, the better you will understand how it is entirely possible to see a zebra-horse hybrid in the real world or even at a farm nearby.
Zebroid is the term used to describe the offspring of a mating between a zebra and any equine animal. It can be with a horse, pony, or donkey. Due to their unique genetic blend, Zebroids will have aspects of both zebras and the other equine. Zebroids tend to be easy to work with and train, but can retain some of the wilder personality of their zebra parent.
They are almost always sterile and cannot reproduce with any other animal, regardless of whether it is a zebra, another zebroid, donkey, horse, or pony. The first recorded zebroid was born in after a zebra stallion was bred with a chestnut-colored Arabian mare horse. Horses and zebras come from the same Equidae animal family and the subgenus Equus. Both animals exist within the same subgenus and thanks to their unique evolution, they are able to successfully mate with one another.
They are able to produce offspring in many of the matings, although not all them are successful. A zebra stallion can mate with a horse mare as long as the height dynamics make it possible.
This is the most common successful pairing between horses and zebras. Human intervention in form of artificial insemination may be necessary since most horses and zebras are not interested in one another. The offspring between a zebra stallion and a horse mare is called a zorse, zebrule, or zebra mule.
These offspring, regardless of what you call them, are almost always sterile and unable to reproduce with any animal. It's an unusual pairing usually requiring human help. Other zebra hybrids include the zonkey. Properly imprinted, equine hybrids can be trained like other domestic donkeys and horses.
The mating of a zebra stallion and a horse mare will result in a zorse. The zorse's color will depend on the dominant gene color of the mother. Mom also passes along her size, shape and temperament. Dad the zebra contributes his stripes, which are boldest on the legs and rear of the offspring. The zorse's coat is short and coarse. Though they tend to take after their mother in temperament, zorses have a strong flight response from their zebra parentage.
Because of their personalities and build, they're better suited for riding than pure zebras.
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