Mammalia - Perissodactyla - Equidae
The genus Equus includes many extinct species in addition to the living domestic horse, zebras, and asses. It originated in North America and emigrated to the Old World during the Pliocene. In the 1920s a spectacular mass mortality assemblage of the primitive species Equus simplicidens was found at the Gidley Horse Quarry in Idaho. Before the end-Pleistocene megafaunal mass extinction several species of horses lived in North America. Pleistocene horses fossils are very common, but their taxonomy is still poorly resolved because many of the older species names were based on poor type specimens.
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Synonyms: Allozebra Trumler 1961, Asinus Gray 1822, Dolichohippus Heller 1912, Equus (Asinus) Gray 1822, Equus (Dolichohippus) Heller 1912, Equus (Grevya) Hilzheimer 1912, Equus (Hippotigris) Hamilton-Smith 1841, Equus (Ludolphozecora) Griffini 1913, Equus (Megacephalon) Hilzheimer 1912, Haringtonhippus Heintzman et al. 2017, Hippotigris Hamilton-Smith 1841, Kolpohippus van Hoepen 1930, Kraterohippus van Hoepen 1930, Neohippus Abel 1913, Onager Brisson 1762, Sterrohippus van Hopen 1930, Tomolabis Cope 1892
Full reference: C. Linnaeus. 1758. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis. Editio Decima 1:1-824
Parent taxon: Equini according to P. D. Heintzman et al. 2017
See also Alberdi et al. 2014, Alroy 2002, Barrón-Ortiz et al. 2019, Capasso Barbato and Gliozzi 1995, Carroll 1988, Cisneros 2005, Cope 1881, Downs and Miller 1994, Eshelman et al. 2018, Gazin 1936, Gidley 1907, Gray 1825, Hay 1902, Hibbard 1955, Kelly 1995, Koufos 1992, Kurten and Anderson 1980, Leidy 1860, Leidy 1873, Linnaeus 1758, MacFadden 1998, McGrew 1944, Mooser 1958, Mooser and Dalquest 1975, Oliver Schneider 1926, Osborn 1929, Owen 1848, Prado and Alberdi 1996, Prothero and Schoch 1989, Quinn 1955, Quinn 1957, Rincón et al. 2006, Salles et al. 2006, Schultz 1938, Schultz and Howard 1935, Scott 1913, Skinner and Hibbard 1972, Stirton 1940, Thurmond and Jones 1981 and Wilson and Reeder 2005
Sister taxa: Allohippus, Boreohippidion, Calippus, Dinohippus, Equus proversus, Heteropliohippus, Hippidion, Parapliohippus, Plesippus, Pliohippina, Pliohippus, Protohippina, Protohippus
Subtaxa: Asinus africanus Equus (Amerhippus) Equus (Asinus) cumminsi Equus (Asinus) kiang Equus (Dolichohippus) enormis Equus (Dolichohippus) grevyi Equus (Hemionus) Equus (Hesperohippus) Equus (Parastilidequus) Equus (Sussemionus) Equus africanus Equus alaskae Equus asinus Equus australis Equus caballus Equus calobatus Equus capensis Equus cedralensis Equus coliemensis Equus complicatus Equus conversidens Equus eisenmannae Equus excelsus Equus francisci Equus fraternus Equus fromanius Equus giganteus Equus holmesi Equus intermedius Equus intermedius Equus jubatus Equus laurentius Equus leidyi Equus mexicanus Equus nalaikhaensis Equus nearcticus Equus nevadanus Equus niobrarensis Equus nobisi Equus parastylidens Equus pectinatus Equus przewalskii Equus pseudaltidens Equus quagga Equus sanmeniensis Equus santaeelenae Equus semiplicatus Equus sivalensis Equus tabeti Equus taeniopus Equus yunnanensis Equus zebra Hippotherium princeps Hippotigris grevyi Hippotigris robustus Hippotigris stenonis Onager onager
Ecology: ground dwelling grazer
Distribution:
• Quaternary of Algeria (2 collections), Argentina (31), Austria (1), Azerbaijan (1), Belgium (1), Bolivia (7), Brazil (17), Bulgaria (1), Canada (31: Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, Yukon), Chile (4), China (13), the Congo-Kinshasa (4), Costa Rica (1), the Czech Republic (2), Djibouti (4), Ecuador (17), Egypt (16), El Salvador (2), Eritrea (2), Ethiopia (54), France (22), Georgia (2), Germany (31), Greece (21), Guatemala (5), Honduras (3), Hungary (6), India (18), Israel (6), Italy (32), Kazakhstan (2), Kenya (85), Kyrgyzstan (1), Libya (4), Malta (1), Mexico (32), Monaco (2), Mongolia (1), Morocco (10), Namibia (1), the Netherlands (6), Nicaragua (3), Pakistan (2), Panama (1), Peru (10), Portugal (3), Romania (15), the Russian Federation (11), Saudi Arabia (2), South Africa (52), Spain (41), Sudan (6), Swaziland (1), Syria (2), Taiwan (1), Tajikistan (3), Tanzania (37), Tunisia (1), Turkey (2), Turkmenistan (1), the United Kingdom (11), United States (435: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon , Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming), Uruguay (4), Uzbekistan (1), Venezuela (3), Zambia (4)
• Blancan of El Salvador (1), Mexico (5), United States (132: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas)
• Pliocene to Holocene of Malawi (1), Uganda (1)
• Pliocene to Pleistocene of China (1), the Congo-Kinshasa (1), Costa Rica (1), Ethiopia (6), France (1), India (4), Italy (3), Kenya (7), Malawi (2), Nepal (1), the Russian Federation (1), South Africa (4)
• Pliocene of Chile (1), France (1), Greece (4), Hungary (3), India (3), Italy (1), Mexico (1), Romania (5), the Russian Federation (1), South Africa (1), Tajikistan (2), Ukraine (1), United States (4: California, Texas)
• Hemphillian of United States (1: Florida)
• Baodean of China (1)
• Miocene to Pliocene of South Africa (4)
• Miocene to Pleistocene of the Netherlands (1), South Africa (1)
• Miocene of Ukraine (1)
• Neogene of Argentina (1)
Total: 1364 collections including 1639 occurrences
Specimen images are retrieved through the ePANDDA API.
Click image to enlarge. Click to access iDigBio record.