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Hartmann's mountain zebra (''Equus zebra hartmannae'') is a
Hartmann's mountain zebra (''Equus zebra hartmannae'') is a subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
of the mountain zebra
The mountain zebra (''Equus zebra'') is a zebra species in the family Equidae, native to southwestern Africa. There are two subspecies, the Cape mountain zebra (''E. z. zebra'') found in South Africa and Hartmann's mountain zebra (''E. z. hartman ...
found in far south-western Angola
, national_anthem = "Angola Avante"()
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, capital = Luanda
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, religion_year = 2020
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, coordina ...
and western Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ...
, easily distinguished from other similar zebra species by its dewlap
A dewlap is a longitudinal flap of skin or similar flesh that hangs beneath the lower jaw or neck of many vertebrates. More loosely, it can be various similar structures in the neck area, such as those caused by a double chin or the submandibul ...
as well as the lack of stripes on its belly.
Habitat and behaviour
They are agile climbers and are able to live in arid conditions and steep mountainous country. Hartmann's mountain zebras prefer to live in small groups ranging from as little as 3 individuals to as many as 12. Herds will either be a breeding herd comprising one stallion and potentially many mares or it will be a bachelor group and consist primarily of young males. Young males raised as a foal within the breeding herds will generally be sent away in as little as 24 months and they themselves may become the stallion of their own breeding herd in as little as 5 years. When two breeding herds come into contact with one another each respective stallion will engage the other in an elaborate posturing ritual. Hartmann's Mountain zebra has been described as anecosystem engineer
An ecosystem engineer is any species that creates, significantly modifies, maintains or destroys a habitat. These organisms can have a large impact on species richness and landscape-level heterogeneity of an area. As a result, ecosystem engine ...
, while engaging in their unique dust bathing
Dust bathing (also called sand bathing) is an animal behavior characterized by rolling or moving around in dust, dry earth or sand, with the likely purpose of removing parasites from fur, feathers or skin. Dust bathing is a maintenance behavior ...
behavior they create a persistent depression known as a rolling pit. Even after the zebra abandons a rolling pit, they will generally remain visible for many years. These rolling pits appear to provide a favorable microsite
A microsite is an individual web page or a small cluster of pages which are meant to function as a discrete entity (such as an iFrame) within an existing website or to complement an offline activity. The microsite's main landing page can have its ...
for the native vegetation ultimately leading to denser growth throughout the pit.
Description
Hartmann's mountain zebras have a defining dewlap hanging from their throat and they are striped all the way down to their hooves with white bellies, whereas some other similar looking mountain zebra species only have stripes down to their knees and lack the completely white belly.Taxonomy
It has been argued that Hartmann's mountain zebra should be considered a separate species from theCape mountain zebra
The Cape mountain zebra (''Equus zebra zebra'') is a subspecies of mountain zebra that occurs in certain mountainous regions of the Western and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa.
It is the smallest of all existing zebra species and also the ...
, but this is not supported by genetic evidence ''(see Mountain zebra#Taxonomy)''. Consequently, it is no longer considered a separate species in ''Mammal Species of the World
''Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference'' is a standard reference work in mammalogy giving descriptions and bibliographic data for the known species of mammals. It is now in its third edition, published in late 2005, ...
''. 2005.
References
Hartmann's mountain zebra Mammals of Angola Mammals of Namibia Hartmann's mountain zebra Articles containing video clips {{oddtoedungulate-stub