Help On Fossil Donkey In Fla.

[bear-dog]

Hello.Im lost again. I need to know the genus and species for the fossil donkeys found in Florida,along with the common name.I have the genus and species for the zebra but no common name for it.

Thanks for any help offered.

Clayton.

[Guest N.AL.hunter]

Fossil Donkey in Florida, hmmmm.

I got it!! Democratis Longevititis

[Fruitbat]

If you're talking about Pleistocene, the genus for horses, donkeys, zebras, etc. is Equus. The New World stilt-legged horse(s), which resemble the donkey, onager and kiang, include the species E. quinni, E. tau and, E. francisci. Equus quinni was synonomized with E. tau in 1980 and E. tau was further synonomized with E. francisci in 1989.

Unfortunately, Faunmap doesn't show any records of Equus tau or Equus francisci in Florida.

The taxonomy of the horses has been contentious for decades with numerous authorities coming up with classification schemes that either expanded or reduced the number of genera and species depending on whether the author(s) were 'lumpers' or 'splitters'. Some recent work on the Pleistocene equids suggests that there were really only three lineages...one that includes the 'caballinid' horses (what most people would consider a 'typical' horse)...a second that includes the stilt-legged horses...and a third that includes the 'Hippidion-type South American horses (similar to the North American stilt-legged horses).

Florida also produces a large number of Miocene and Pliocene equids with taxonomies every bit as muddled as those of the Pleistocene horses.

-Joe

Edited October 15, 2010 by Fruitbat

[bear-dog]

If you're talking about Pleistocene, the genus for horses, donkeys, zebras, etc. is Equus. The New World stilt-legged horse(s), which resemble the donkey, onager and kiang, include the species E. quinni, E. tau and, E. francisci. Equus quinni was synonomized with E. tau in 1980 and E. tau was further synonomized with E. francisci in 1989.

Unfortunately, Faunmap doesn't show any records of Equus tau or Equus francisci in Florida.

The taxonomy of the horses has been contentious for decades with numerous authorities coming up with classification schemes that either expanded or reduced the number of genera and species depending on whether the author(s) were 'lumpers' or 'splitters'. Some recent work on the Pleistocene equids suggests that there were really only three lineages...one that includes the 'caballinid' horses (what most people would consider a 'typical' horse)...a second that includes the stilt-legged horses...and a third that includes the 'Hippidion-type South American horses (similar to the North American stilt-legged horses).

Florida also produces a large number of Miocene and Pliocene equids with taxonomies every bit as muddled as those of the Pleistocene horses.

-Joe

Thanks,have to look it up.

Clayton.

[siteseer]

Clayton,

The zebra from Florida (and other North American sites) has been called the "American zebra" in some publications. That could be just a nickname given to it to separate it from African zebras. It can be misleading to give a prehistoric animal a common name since common names often use terms less applicable or not applicable to extinct forms without modern relatives.

Jess

Hello.Im lost again. I need to know the genus and species for the fossil donkeys found in Florida,along with the common name.I have the genus and species for the zebra but no common name for it.

Thanks for any help offered.

Clayton.

[bear-dog]

Thanks buddy!