European ass

European ass
Leg
Conservation status
Extinct
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Perissodactyla
Family:	Equidae
Genus:	Equus
Subgenus:	Asinus
Species:	†E. hydruntinus
Binomial name
Equus hydruntinus

The European ass (Equus hydruntinus) is an extinct equine from the middle and late Pleistocene of Eurasia. It appeared first in the fossil report 300,000 years before present and did not disappear until Holocene times. In the late Pleistocene it was widespread throughout much of western Eurasia from the Middle East to Europe, especially along the Mediterranean, with fossil reports from Sicily, Turkey, Spain, France and Portugal. In the east the range apparently stretched at least to the Volga and to Iran. In the north it reached almost to the North Sea in Germany. It is possible that the Iberian "cebro", extinct in the wild from the 16th century, could correspond to the Equus hydruntinus. Morphologically the European ass can be distinguished from asses and hemiones particularly by its molars and the relatively short nares. The exact systematic position is still not fully clear, but genetic and morphological analysis suggest that it is closely related to the Asiatic wild ass.

Etymology

The specific epithet, hydruntinus, means from Otranto (Hydruntum in Latin).

See also

• List of extinct animals of Europe