Asian wild ass
| Onager Temporal range: 4.5–0 Ma Early Pliocene - Holocene |
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| A Persian onager (Equus hemionus onager) at Rostov-on-Don Zoo, Russia. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | Equidae |
| Genus: | Equus |
| Subgenus: | Asinus |
| Species: | E. hemionus |
| Binomial name | |
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Equus hemionus Pallas, 1775 |
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| Subspecies | |
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| Equus hemionus range | |
| Synonyms | |
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Equus onager Boddaert, 1785 |
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Equus onager Boddaert, 1785
The onager (Equus hemionus) (pronounced /ˈɒnədʒə/), also known as hemione or Asiatic wild ass, is a species of the family Equidae (horse family) native to Asia. A member of the subgenus Asinus, the onager was described and given its binomial name by German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas in 1775. Five subspecies have been recognized, one of which is extinct.
The Asiatic wild ass is larger than African wild ass at about 290 kg (640 lb) and 2.1 m (6.9 ft) (head-body length). They are reddish-brown or yellowish-brown in color and have broad dorsal stripe on the middle of the back. Unlike most horses and donkeys, onagers have never been domesticated. They are among the fastest mammals, as they can run as fast as 64 km/h (40 mph) to 70 km/h (43 mph). The onager is closely related to the African wild ass, as they both shared the same ancestor. The kiang, formerly considered a subspecies of Equus hemionus, diverged from the Asiatic wild ass and has been acknowledged as a distinct species.
The onager formerly had a wider range from southwest and central to northern Asian countries, such as Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Russia, and Siberia. During early 20th century, the species lost most of its ranges in the Middle East and Eastern Asia. Today, onagers live in deserts and other arid regions of Iran, Pakistan, India, and Mongolia, including in Central Asian hot and cold deserts of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and China.
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