Tarpan
| Tarpan | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Only known photo of an alleged live tarpan, which may have been a hybrid or feral animal, 1884 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | Equidae |
| Genus: | Equus |
| Subgenus: | Equus |
| Species: | E. ferus |
| Subspecies: | E. f. ferus |
| Trinomial name | |
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Equus ferus ferus Boddaert, 1785 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Equus equiferus Pallas, 1811 |
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Equus equiferus Pallas, 1811
Equus gmelini Antonius, 1912
Equus sylvestris Brincken, 1826
Equus silvaticus Vetulani, 1928
Equus tarpan Pidoplichko, 1951
The tarpan (Equus ferus ferus), also known as Eurasian wild horse, is an extinct subspecies of wild horse. The last individual believed to be of this subspecies died in captivity in Russia in 1909, although some sources claim that it was not a genuine wild horse due to its resemblance to domesticated horses.
Beginning in the 1930s, several attempts were made to develop horses that looked like tarpans through selective breeding, called "breeding back" by advocates. The breeds that resulted included the Heck horse, the Hegardt or Stroebel's horse, and a derivation of the Konik breed, all of which have a primitive appearance, particularly in having the grullo coat color. Some of these horses are now commercially promoted as "tarpans." However, those who study the history of the ancient wild horse assert that the word "tarpan" only describes the true wild horse.
The name "tarpan" or "tarpani" is from a Turkic language (Kazakh or Kyrgyz) name meaning "wild horse". The Tatars and the Cossacks distinguished the wild horse from the feral horse; the latter was called Takja or Muzin.
In modern use, the term has been loosely used to refer to the predomesticated ancestor of the modern horse, Equus ferus, to the predomestic subspecies believed to have lived into the historic era, Equus ferus ferus, and to all European primitive or "wild" horses in general. The modern "bred-back" horse breeds are also promoted as "tarpan" by their supporters, though researchers discourage this use of the word, which they believe should only apply to the ancient E. ferus ferus.
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