plains zebrazebra
Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Equidae
Genus: Equus
Subgenus: Hippotigris
Dolichohippus
Species:
Equus zebra
Equus quagga
Equus grevyi
There are three extant species. Collectively, two of the species have 8 subspecies (7 extant). Zebra populations are diverse, and the relationships between and the taxonomic status of several of the subspecies are not well known:
Genus: Equus
Subgenus: Hippotigris
Plains Zebra, Equus quagga
Quagga, Equus quagga quagga (extinct)
Burchell's Zebra, Equus quagga burchellii (includes Damara Zebra)
Grant's Zebra, Equus quagga boehmi
Selous' zebra, Equus quagga borensis
Chapman's Zebra, Equus quagga chapmani
Crawshay's Zebra, Equus quagga crawshayi
Mountain Zebra, Equus zebra
Cape Mountain Zebra, Equus zebra zebra
Hartmann's Mountain Zebra, Equus zebra hartmannae
Subgenus: Dolichohippus
Grevy's Zebra, Equus grevyi
The zebra is found in Africa, from the Sahara to Rhodesia. It is not fussy about food and is satisfied with the sparse grass found in these semi-desert areas. It lives in family groups of up to 20, side by side with gnus, buffalo, and ostriches. The mixed group gets along well.
The female bears a single foal after a gestation period of about a year. If captured young, the zebra is easily domesticated. Zebras and horses have been cross-bred in England. The resulting hybrids have the double advantage of resistance to cold and immunity from sleeping sickness.
It is not only its speed, sometimes reaching 35 miles an hour, that will save the zebra from a predator, but also the black and white stripes that make its shape hard to see as it runs. And at night it can escape from the lions that stalk it at water holes because its striped coat blends so well with the shadows in the underbrush.
