948 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



EXTREMELY B.MIK MOUNTAIN ZEBRA, Equus zebra. 



the North to striping confined to the shoulders 

 and anterior portion of the trunk in the Quagga 

 of the South. This fading out of the stripes, 

 which affords a color transition between these 

 brilliantly marked animals and the apparently 

 monotonous color of the Przewalsky horse, 

 affords strong ground for believing that all the 

 horses were originally striped. This belief 

 is strengthened by the fact that reversional 

 striping occurs in all the dun colored horses on 

 the face, the limbs, and the shoulders, while the 

 medium back stripe is found in the duns, bays 

 and browns among the horses. 



The Mountain Zebra (Fig. 1 1 ) is the rarest 

 animal in our entire collection, because it is 

 now extinct throughout a large part of its 

 former range and is carefully protected by the 

 South African government in its remaining 

 mountain fastnesses. Like the Grant zebra, its 

 color bands are very broad and comparatively 

 few in number, but it possesses a broad gridiron 

 of transverse stripes over the hips, which is only 

 partially developed in the Grant. Other char- 

 acteristic features are its short head, very long 

 ears, the distinct lap or loose fold in the under 

 skin of the neck, and the very short, heavily- 



built limbs which adapt it to its mountain 

 habitat. 



The call of the Mountain Zebra is between 

 that of the horse and the ass, and usually con- 

 sists of three short, barking whinnies in quick 

 succession. The note is uttered with great 

 gusto, and the position assumed during the call 

 is more like that of a horse than of the ass, 

 which while braying stands quietly with the 

 head up and the ears pricked forward. The 

 disposition of the Mountain Zebra is generally 

 vicious, whereas the Grant zebra is much more 

 docile and capable of domestication. 



It is interesting to note that although the 

 zebras were well known to the Romans, this 

 true or Mountain Zebra was the first of this 

 group to be described by Linnaeus, as Equus 

 zebra, from the figure in Edward's "Glean- 

 ings of Natural History." The Grevy zebra on 

 the other hand, occupying the heart of Abys- 

 sinia, was the last of this great group to be dis- 

 covered, not having been made known to science 

 until 1882, when a specimen was presented to 

 President Grew of the French Republic, in 

 whose honor the new species was named. 



