THE BIRTH OF A ZKBKA HYBRID. 13 



appeared in the horse group, but it may be assumed that 

 it was long before the days of Hipparion and his other 

 three-toed relatives. 



Compared with the even-toed ruminants (oxen, sheep, 

 deer, antelopes, &c.), the odd-toed ungulates suffered 

 heavily during the Tertiary period — only the tapir, the 

 rhinoceros, and the horse families have survived. This 

 being the case, it may be taken for granted that at least in 

 some areas the struggle for existence in the case of the 

 non-ruminating ungulates has been very keen. Bearing 

 this in mind, the existence of stripes becomes intelligible 

 if it be admitted that they counted for something in the 

 battle of life. While admitting that the ancestor of all 

 the horses was " more or less striped," it is well to 

 remember that the only wild horse we are acquainted with 

 [E. przewalskii) has but a faint dorsal band ; and that 

 while stripes were presumably useful in races living in 

 wide, fertile, richly populated plains, they may not have 

 been specially useful in the case of the Dzungaria and 

 other races living in remote desert regions. 



In considering the colour of the hybrid it will be well to 

 remember that when distinct types are crossed the progeny 

 are apt to revert to a more primitive type, to assume some 

 of the ancestral colours. 



Taking these and other facts into consideration, I ex- 

 pected the hybrid at birth to be of a dun or bay colour, 

 with distinct dark stripes on the legs and shoulders, and 

 less distinct stripes on the face. Bearing in mind the all 

 but complete absence of stripes in Lord Morton's quagga 

 hybrid, I was not a little surprised when I found Mulatto's 

 foal extremely well provided with stripes all over (Fig. 4j, 

 in some respects more richly, if less obtrusively, decorated 

 than any of the zebras. As might have been anticipated, 

 the majority of the stripes were dark brown, while the body 

 colour varied from a light bay colour on the lower part of 

 the legs to a rich orange on the upper part of the face. 

 On the under aspect of the neck and trunk, however, the 

 stripes were indistinct ; this was especially true of the 



