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{{refimprove section|date=August 2011}}
{{refimprove section|date=August 2011}}
[[Image:Quagga in enclosure.jpg|thumb|left|The quagga in London Zoo]]
[[Image:Quagga in enclosure.jpg|thumb|left|The quagga in London Zoo]]
The name comes from a [[Khoikhoi]] word for ''zebra'' and is [[Onomatopoeia|onomatopoeic]], being said to resemble the quagga's call.
The name "quagga" is derived from the [[Khoikhoi]] word for ''zebra'' and is [[Onomatopoeia|onomatopoeic]], being said to resemble the quagga's call.<ref name=skinner>{{cite book | last = Skinner | first = JD | title = The Mammals of the Southern African Subregion | year = 2005 | publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]] | location = Cambridge | isbn = 0-521-84418-5 | pages = 537–546] |edition = 3rd | coauthors = Chimimba, CT | chapter = Equidae}}</ref>


The quagga was originally classified as an individual [[species]], ''Equus quagga'', in 1778. Over the next 200 years or so, many other zebras were described by naturalists and explorers. Because of the great variation in coat patterns (no two zebras are alike), taxonomists were left with a great number of described "species", and no easy way to tell which of these were true species, which were [[subspecies]], and which were simply natural [[variants]].
The quagga was originally classified as an individual [[species]], ''Equus quagga'', in 1778. Over the next 200 years or so, many other zebras were described by naturalists and explorers. Because of the great variation in coat patterns (no two zebras are alike), taxonomists were left with a great number of described "species", and no easy way to tell which of these were true species, which were [[subspecies]], and which were simply natural [[variants]].
Line 34: Line 34:


===Evolution===
===Evolution===
In 1984, the quagga was the first extinct creature to have its [[Deoxyribonucleic acid|DNA]] studied.<ref>{{cite pmid|6504142}}</ref> An immunological study published the following year confirmed these finds.<ref>{{Cite doi|10.1007/BF01951724}}</ref> A genetic study published in 2005 demonstrated that the quagga was not a distinct species, but a [[subspecies]] of the [[plains zebra]], ''Equus burchelli''. It diverged from the other subspecies between 120,000 and 290,000 years ago.<ref name="smithsonian">{{Cite doi|10.1098/rsbl.2005.0323}}</ref> This suggests that it should be named ''Equus burchelli quagga''; however, according to the rules of [[Binomial nomenclature|biological nomenclature]], where there are two or more alternative names for a single species, the name first used takes priority. As the quagga was described about thirty years earlier than the plains zebra, it appears that the correct terms are ''E. quagga quagga'' for the quagga and ''E. quagga burchelli'' for the plains zebra, unless "''[[Equus burchelli]]''" is officially declared to be a [[nomen conservandum]].
In 1984, the quagga was the first extinct animal to have its [[Deoxyribonucleic acid|DNA]] studied.<ref>{{cite pmid|6504142}}</ref> An immunological study published the following year confirmed these finds.<ref>{{Cite doi|10.1007/BF01951724}}</ref> A genetic study published in 2005 demonstrated that the quagga was not a distinct species, but a [[subspecies]] of the [[plains zebra]], ''Equus burchelli''. It diverged from the other subspecies between 120,000 and 290,000 years ago.<ref name="smithsonian">{{Cite doi|10.1098/rsbl.2005.0323}}</ref> This suggests that it should be named ''Equus burchelli quagga''; however, according to the rules of [[Binomial nomenclature|biological nomenclature]], where there are two or more alternative names for a single species, the name first used takes priority. As the quagga was described about thirty years earlier than the plains zebra, it appears that the correct terms are ''E. quagga quagga'' for the quagga and ''E. quagga burchelli'' for the plains zebra, unless "''[[Equus burchelli]]''" is officially declared to be a [[nomen conservandum]].


⚫
==Biology and ecology==
[[Image:Berlin Quagga.jpg|thumb|left|Specimen in the [[Museum für Naturkunde]], Berlin]]
[[Image:Berlin Quagga.jpg|thumb|left|Specimen in the [[Museum für Naturkunde]], Berlin]]

⚫
==Biology and ecology==
The quagga may have been {{convert|257|cm|ft|abbr=on}} and stood {{convert|125|–|135|cm|ft|abbr=on}}. It had a distinctive coat pattern, with brown and white striping on the head and neck, brown upper parts and a white belly, tail and legs. However it appears to have had a high degree of [[Polymorphism (biology)|polymorphism]], with some individuals having no stripes and other having striping patterns similar to [[Burchell's zebra]].<ref name="Walker">{{cite book|author=Nowak, R. M.|year=1999|title=Walker's Mammals of the World, Volume 1|publisher=John Hopkins University Press|page=1024|isbn=0801857899}}</ref> Living in the very southern end of the plains zebra's range, the quagga possibly had a thick winter coat that moulted each year. Its skull was described as having a straight profile and a [[concave]] [[Diastema (dentistry)|distema]].<ref name="Kingdon">{{cite book|author=Kingdon, J.|year=1988|title=East African Mammals: An Atlas of Evolution in Africa, Volume 3, Part B: Large Mammals|publisher=University of Chicago Press|page=139|isbn=0226437221}}</ref>
The quagga may have been {{convert|257|cm|ft|abbr=on}} and stood {{convert|125|–|135|cm|ft|abbr=on}}. It had a distinctive coat pattern, with brown and white striping on the head and neck, brown upper parts and a white belly, tail and legs. However it appears to have had a high degree of [[Polymorphism (biology)|polymorphism]], with some individuals having no stripes and other having striping patterns similar to [[Burchell's zebra]].<ref name="Walker">{{cite book|author=Nowak, R. M.|year=1999|title=Walker's Mammals of the World, Volume 1|publisher=John Hopkins University Press|page=1024|isbn=0801857899}}</ref> Living in the very southern end of the plains zebra's range, the quagga possibly had a thick winter coat that moulted each year. Its skull was described as having a straight profile and a [[concave]] [[Diastema (dentistry)|distema]].<ref name="Kingdon">{{cite book|author=Kingdon, J.|year=1988|title=East African Mammals: An Atlas of Evolution in Africa, Volume 3, Part B: Large Mammals|publisher=University of Chicago Press|page=139|isbn=0226437221}}</ref>


Revision as of 18:33, 10 June 2013

For the network routing software, see Quagga (software). For other uses, see Quagga (disambiguation).

Quagga
Female quagga in London Zoo, 1870

Extinct (1883)  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Perissodactyla
Family:
Equidae
Genus:
Equus
Subgenus:
Hippotigris
Species:
E. quagga
Subspecies:
†E. q. quagga
Trinomial name
†Equus quagga quagga
Boddaert, 1785

The quagga (Equus quagga quagga) is an extinct subspecies of the plains zebra,[2] which was once found in great numbers in the Karoo of the former Cape Province and the southern part of the former Orange Free State in South Africa.

Taxonomy

The quagga in London Zoo

The name "quagga" is derived from the Khoikhoi word for zebra and is onomatopoeic, being said to resemble the quagga's call.[3]

The quagga was originally classified as an individual species, Equus quagga, in 1778. Over the next 200 years or so, many other zebras were described by naturalists and explorers. Because of the great variation in coat patterns (no two zebras are alike), taxonomists were left with a great number of described "species", and no easy way to tell which of these were true species, which were subspecies, and which were simply natural variants.

Because of the confusion between different zebra species, particularly among the general public, the quagga had become extinct before it was realized that it may have been a separate species.

Evolution

In 1984, the quagga was the first extinct animal to have its DNA studied.[4] An immunological study published the following year confirmed these finds.[5] A genetic study published in 2005 demonstrated that the quagga was not a distinct species, but a subspecies of the plains zebra, Equus burchelli. It diverged from the other subspecies between 120,000 and 290,000 years ago.[6] This suggests that it should be named Equus burchelli quagga; however, according to the rules of biological nomenclature, where there are two or more alternative names for a single species, the name first used takes priority. As the quagga was described about thirty years earlier than the plains zebra, it appears that the correct terms are E. quagga quagga for the quagga and E. quagga burchelli for the plains zebra, unless "Equus burchelli" is officially declared to be a nomen conservandum.

Biology and ecology

Specimen in the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin

The quagga may have been 257 cm (8.43 ft) and stood 125–135 cm (4.10–4.43 ft). It had a distinctive coat pattern, with brown and white striping on the head and neck, brown upper parts and a white belly, tail and legs. However it appears to have had a high degree of polymorphism, with some individuals having no stripes and other having striping patterns similar to Burchell's zebra.[7] Living in the very southern end of the plains zebra's range, the quagga possibly had a thick winter coat that moulted each year. Its skull was described as having a straight profile and a concave distema.[8]

The quagga was the southernmost disturbed plains zebra, mainly living south of the Orange River. It inhabited arid, open areas[7] dominated by Acacia karroo. These areas were known for distinctive flora and fauna and high amounts of endemism.[8][9] While the ranges of plains zebra subspecies generally do not overlap, the quagga's was sympatic with Burchell's zebra north of the Orange river. However, there is no evidence that they interbred in the wild.[9] Quagga have been reported gathering into herds of 30–50 individuals and sometimes traveled in a linear fashion.[7]

Extinction

The last confirmed quagga, pictured here at Leiden's Naturalis. In front of it a stuffed Great Auk can be seen

The quagga was hunted to extinction for meat, hides, and to preserve feed for domesticated stock. The last wild quagga was probably shot in the late 1870s, and the last specimen in captivity, a mare, died on August 12, 1883, at the Natura Artis Magistra zoo in Amsterdam.

Hybridisation

One of only seven quagga skeletons in the world, at the Grant Museum

There is a record of a quagga bred to a horse in the 1896 work Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by George M. Gould and Walter L. Pyle:

In the year 1815 Lord Morton put a male quagga to a young chestnut mare of seven-eighths Arabian blood, which had never before been bred from. The result was a female hybrid which resembled both parents.[10]

In his 1859 The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin recalls seeing coloured drawings of zebra-donkey hybrids, and mentions "Lord Moreton's famous hybrid from a chesnut [11] mare and male quagga..." Darwin mentioned this particular hybrid again in 1868 in The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication,[12] and provides a citation to the journal in which Lord Morton first described the breeding.

Breeding resembling zebras

Main article: Quagga Project
2008 VOA report about the project

After the very close relationship between the quagga and surviving zebras was discovered, the Quagga Project was started by Reinhold Rau (1932–2006) in South Africa to recreate the quagga by selective breeding from plains zebra stock, with the eventual aim of reintroducing them to the wild.[13] This type of selective breeding is also called breeding back. A foal of the Quagga Project, named Henry, was born on 20 January 2005. In early 2006, the third and fourth generation animals produced by the project were reported to look very much like the depictions and preserved specimens of the quagga. The practice of breeding back generally, and specifically whether optic similarity alone are enough to declare that this project has truly recreated the original quagga, are both controversial.[14][15]

DNA from mounted specimens was successfully extracted in 1984, but the technology to use recovered DNA for breeding does not exist. In addition to skins such as the one held by the Natural History Museum in London, there are 23 known stuffed and mounted quagga throughout the world. A twenty-fourth specimen was destroyed in Königsberg, Germany (now Kaliningrad, Russia), during World War II.[14]

In culture

Live male quagga at the Royal College of Surgeons, painted by Jacques-Laurent Agasse in the early 1800s

The Quagga has been depicted in cave art attributed to Bushmen.[16] The only quagga to have been photographed alive was a mare at the Zoological Society of London's Zoo in Regent's Park in 1870.

A quagga appears in a sequence in the Soviet Union's animated film The Cat Who Walked by Herself, in which a dog tracks the hoofprints of one, and a cat tells a boy of the Red Book of endangered species, and how Quagga had "her track severed" (that is, made extinct) due to Man's selfish actions. The animal can be unlocked in the computer game Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals.

Quaggas have appeared in several books including The Mysterious Island, Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer, Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppel, King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard and the short story "King of the Beasts" by Philip José Farmer. A quagga is one of the main characters in The Katurran Odyssey, a fantasy children's book by David Michael Wieger.

The quagga is a monster that players face in the Unix game Rogue.

See also

References

  1. ^ Template:IUCN2008
  2. ^ "Equus quagga quagga". The Extinction Website. Reference May 19, 2008.
  3. ^ Skinner, JD (2005). "Equidae". The Mammals of the Southern African Subregion (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 537–546]. ISBN 0-521-84418-5. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite pmid}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by PMID 6504142, please use {{cite journal}} with |pmid=6504142 instead.
  5. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1007/BF01951724, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1007/BF01951724 instead.
  6. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1098/rsbl.2005.0323, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1098/rsbl.2005.0323 instead.
  7. ^ a b c Nowak, R. M. (1999). Walker's Mammals of the World, Volume 1. John Hopkins University Press. p. 1024. ISBN 0801857899.
  8. ^ a b Kingdon, J. (1988). East African Mammals: An Atlas of Evolution in Africa, Volume 3, Part B: Large Mammals. University of Chicago Press. p. 139. ISBN 0226437221.
  9. ^ a b Hack, M. A.; East, R.; Rubenstein, D. I. (2002). ""Status and Action Plan for the Plains Zebra (Equus burchelli)". In Moehlman, P. D. R. (ed.). Equids: Zebras, Asses, and Horses: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. IUCN/SSC Equid Specialist Group. p. 44. ISBN 2831706475.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Hartwell, S. Hybrid Mammals. Downloaded at July 24, 2006
  11. ^ Science as a way of knowing: the foundations of modern biology:(page 245) By John Alexander Moore ISBN 0-674-79482-6, ISBN 978-0-674-79482-5
  12. ^ Darwin, C. 1883. The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication. Second Edition, Revised. D. Appleton & Co, New York.
  13. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.3957/056.039.0206, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.3957/056.039.0206 instead.
  14. ^ a b Max, D.T. (January 1, 2006). "Can You Revive an Extinct Animal?". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
  15. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1007/978-90-481-2479-4_13, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1007/978-90-481-2479-4_13 instead.
  16. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1017/S0959774302000057, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1017/S0959774302000057 instead.
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