The Atlas wild ass (''Equus africanus atlanticus''), also known as Algerian wild ass, is a purported extinct subspecies of the

African wild ass The African wild ass (''Equus africanus'') or African wild donkey is a wild member of the horse family, Equidae. This species is thought to be the ancestor of the domestic donkey (''Equus asinus''), which is sometimes placed within the same spec ...

that was once found across North Africa and parts of the Sahara.Kingdon, Jonathan (1997) ''The Kingdon field guide to African mammals''. Helm, London It was last represented in a villa mural ca. 300 AD in Bona,

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, and may have become extinct as a result of

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

sport hunting Trophy hunting is a form of hunting for sport in which parts of the hunted wild animals are kept and displayed as trophies. The animal being targeted, known as the "game", is typically a mature male specimen from a popular species of collectable ...

Taxonomy

Purported bones have been found in a number of rock shelters across Morocco and Algeria by

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

s including

Alfred Romer Alfred Sherwood Romer (December 28, 1894 – November 5, 1973) was an American paleontologist and biologist and a specialist in vertebrate evolution. Biography Alfred Romer was born in White Plains, New York, the son of Harry Houston Romer an ...

(1928, 1935) and Camille Arambourg (1931). While the existence of numerous prehistoric rock art depictions, and Roman mosaics leave no doubt about the former existence of African wild asses in North Africa, it has been claimed that the original bones that were used to describe the subspecies ''atlanticus'' actually belonged to a

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zebr ...

. Therefore, the name ''E. a. atlanticus'' would be "unavailable" to the Atlas wild ass. It was also hypothesized that the appearance of

Nubian Nubian may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Nubia, a region along the Nile river in Southern Egypt and northern Sudan. *Nubian people *Nubian languages *Anglo-Nubian goat, a breed of goat * Nubian ibex * , several ships of the Britis ...

and

Somali wild ass The Somali wild ass (''Equus africanus somaliensis'') is a subspecies of the African wild ass. It is found in Somalia, the Southern Red Sea region of Eritrea, and the Afar Region of Ethiopia. The legs of the Somali wild ass are striped, resembl ...

es were clinal and that they appeared different as an artifact of the recent extinction of intermediate-looking populations. This would make the living African wild ass a monotypic species with no subspecies, and at least question the existence of extinct subspecies like the Atlas wild ass. However, genetic studies have shown since that Nubian and Somali wild asses are different enough to warrant subspecies status. Additionally,

domestic donkey The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...

s carry two different haplotypes, one shared with the Nubian wild ass, and another of unknown origin that is not found in the Somali wild ass. The presence of the extinct Atlas wild ass in the Ancient world makes it a plausible source for the second haplotype.Groves, C. (2013). Subgenus Asinus African Wild Ass in ''The Mammals of Africa'' Vol. V. (eds. Kingdon, J., Happold, DCD, Butynski, TM, Hoffmann, M., Happold, M. & Kalina, J.) 414–417.

Description

Ancient art consistently depicts the African wild asses of North Africa as similar to, but darker colored than, the Nubian and Somali wild ass subspecies. The general color was gray, with marked black and white stripes on the legs, and a black shoulder cross (sometimes doubled). In comparison, the Nubian wild ass is gray with shoulder cross but no stripes, and the Somali wild ass is sandy with black stripes, but no shoulder cross. One or both features appear occasionally in domestic donkeys. Wild and primitive domestic asses are indistinguishable from their bones, which complicates their identification in archaeological sites.

Range and ecology

The Atlas wild ass was found in the region around the Atlas Mountains, across modern day Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. It might also have occurred in rocky areas of the Saharan Desert, but not in sands which are avoided by wild asses. However, the 20th century reports of wild asses from northern Chad and the Hoggar Massif in the central Sahara are doubtful.

References

*Harper, F. (1944.5). ''Extinct and Vanishing Mammals of the Old World'', QL707.H37, p. 352 *Ziswiler, V. (1967). ''Extinct and Vanishing Animals'', QL88.Z513, p. 113 {{Taxonbar, from=Q1294976 Donkeys Extinct mammals of Africa Holocene extinctions Species made extinct by human activities Controversial mammal taxa Mammals described in 1884