Darwin referred to the origin of species as "that mystery of mysteries," and even today, more than 150 years later, evolutionary biologists cannot fully explain how new animals and plants arise.
Plants & Animals
Sep 2, 2013
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The identity of a mysterious breed of "horse" which has baffled experts since its remains were uncovered at Pompeii has been resolved by a Cambridge University researcher – who realised it was a donkey.
Biochemistry
Nov 3, 2010
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The donkey has shaped the history of humankind, both as a source of power for farm work, and of transportation in sometimes hard to reach areas.
Plants & Animals
Sep 8, 2022
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For thousands of years, horses and donkeys have been some of our species' most important partners.
Plants & Animals
Apr 29, 2021
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A noblewoman from Imperial China enjoyed playing polo on donkeys so much she had her steeds buried with her so she could keep doing it in the afterlife, archaeologists found. This discovery by a team that includes Fiona Marshall, ...
Archaeology
Mar 16, 2020
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An international team of archaeologists has uncovered the earliest example of the use of a bridle bit with an equid (horse family) in the Near East. The discovery provides first evidence of the use of the bit (mouth piece) ...
Archaeology
May 16, 2018
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A team of researchers from Denmark, Malaysia, France and the U.K. has conducted a genome assembly of the donkey to learn more about its evolutionary history. In their paper published on the open access site Science Advances, ...
Just how new species are established is still one of the most central questions in biology. In an article in the leading scientific journal Nature, researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden describe how they mapped the ...
Biotechnology
Oct 24, 2012
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Genetic investigators say the partnership between people and the ancestors of today's donkeys was sealed not by monarchs trying to establish kingdoms, but by mobile, pastoral people who had to recruit animals to help them ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 28, 2010
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Donkeys are vital to the lives of women in Ethiopia and could be the difference between destitution and modest survival, new research has found. The study also revealed that societal perception of donkeys as low-status animals ...
Social Sciences
Oct 11, 2023
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The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E. africanus. In the western United States, a small donkey is sometimes called a burro (from the Spanish word for the animal).
A male donkey or ass is called a jack, a female a jenny, and an offspring less than one year old a foal (male: colt, female: filly).
While different species of the Equidae family can interbreed, offspring are almost always sterile. Nonetheless, horse/donkey hybrids are popular for their durability and vigor. A mule is the offspring of a jack (male donkey) and a mare (female horse). The much rarer successful mating of a male horse and a female donkey produces a hinny.
Asses were first domesticated around 3000 BC, or 4000 BC, probably in Egypt or Mesopotamia, and have spread around the world. They continue to fill important roles in many places today. While domesticated species are increasing in numbers, the African wild ass and another relative, the Onager, are endangered. As "beasts of burden" and companions, asses and donkeys have worked together with humans for millennia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
