Friday, September 17, 2010

The Quagga Look

The unusual markings on this zebra put me in mind of the long-extinct sub-species of zebra known as the quagga.


This photograph, taken at London Zoo in 1870, is of the only quagga to be photographed. The quagga became extinct in 1883 - doesn't it look similar to my Namibian zebra?


4 comments:

  1. Interesting photos and blog post. While I have heard of the Quagga, I wonder if any dna work has been done on it. To me the photos look like there could be some donkey genes mixed in there. These posts from Africa are great reading. Keep it up.

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  2. Yes Robert, your zebra picture looks very much like the late quagga. Why shouldn't it? The quagga is a sub specie of the zebra.

    Yes John there is DNA work being done on the quagga. Check out The Quagga Project South Africa at: http://www.quaggaproject.org/

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  3. Neah; donkey or horse genes would be very difficult. It does not look like any of the zebra hybrids i have seen and these are nearly all infertile. Only one or two fertile zebroid mares have been reported but not proved...

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  4. I thought the same thing at first glance.the head and tail looks like a donkey

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