Wild ancestor of the domestic horse
First letter "t"
Second letter "a"
Third letter "r"
The last beech is the letter "n"
Answer for the clue "Wild ancestor of the domestic horse", 6 letters:
tarpan
Alternative questions in crossword puzzles for the word tarpan
Odd-toed tarpan animal
The horse that once ran across Europe
Extinct wild horse
m. Equus caballus ferus, wild horse of the Kirghiz steppes, see also kulan and dzhigitai. Tarpan is a name not quite explained by scientists; he is mujin and takya; Is it a wild horse or a wild horse? Recently, according to legend, he lived in Novorossiysk. steppes
An extinct wild horse of gray color with a black mane and tail, found in the steppes of Eastern Europe
Word definitions for tarpan in dictionaries
Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. D.N. Ushakov
The meaning of the word in the dictionary Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. D.N. Ushakov
tarpana, m. (Turk.). A wild horse that lived until the end of the 19th century in the steppes of Europe and Western Siberia, now preserved in some protected areas (for example, in Belovezhskaya Pushcha).
Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova.
The meaning of the word in the dictionary Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova.
-a, m. An extinct wild horse of gray color with a black mane and tail, found in the steppes of Eastern Europe.
Great Soviet Encyclopedia
The meaning of the word in the dictionary Great Soviet Encyclopedia
European wild horse (Equus caballus gmelini), a subspecies of the domestic horse. Probably the ancestor of some breeds of domestic horses. T. was previously widespread in the steppes of the European part of the USSR and a number of European countries. Met in Ukraine until the 70s. 19th century....
Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language, Vladimir Dal
The meaning of the word in the dictionary Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language, Vladimir Dal
m. Equus caballus ferus, wild horse of the Kirghiz steppes, see also kulan and dzhigitai. Tarpan is a name not quite explained by scientists; he is mujin and takya; Is it a wild horse or a wild horse? Recently, according to legend, he lived in Novorossiysk. steppes.
Examples of the use of the word tarpan in the literature.
Young horse from the herd or wild caught tarpan easier in science than a stupid horse that has been in stupid hands.
They ran here and there tarpans, and the tours, not so cautious in their strength, looked at the horsemen and again lowered their heads, tearing off the grass.
In the hands of the Slobozhans, the bow becomes a terrible long-range weapon, and close up, a hundred paces, the Slobozhan will pierce a goat, and in the tour or in tarpana- a wild horse - will drive an arrow to the feather.
Will not hear - tarpan not a wolf, he is like a deer, they chase him, he tries to hear what is behind him.
Then he said aloud: - Well, why can you be wise, command crowds, fight incessantly, have a brilliant mind, like a diamond, and at the same time remain tiny, like tarpan and blind as a caterpillar?
Since ancient times, horses have been considered human companions: they were used during the great migrations, for military purposes, just for the transport of goods. Perhaps someone was wondering how long ago horses appeared? What did the ancestor of the horse and zebra look like? Outwardly, these two animals are so similar to each other. We will try to understand these and other interesting questions in the article.
The evolution of the equine family - from eogippus to the modern horse.
Archaeological excavations have proven that the very first ancestors of horses began to appear 50-60 million years ago. Animal remains have been found both on the territory of the North American continent and in the European part of the world. They were named, respectively, eogippus and hyracotherium.
In those days, the entire surface of the Earth was covered with dense vegetation, and its recently appeared inhabitants, mammals, easily adapted to new conditions and used the forest to hide from predators. This helped the small size of the animals.
Eohippus was small in stature - at the withers it reached no more than 30 cm. With his appearance, he vaguely resembled a modern horse. On the paws there were fingers instead of the usual hooves, and on the front - four, and the back - three. The tail was up to 20 cm long and more like a cat's tail. The same can be said about the structure of a slightly elongated skull.
The only reason that prompted scientists to call this animal the ancestor of the horse was the fact that, in addition to small animals and insects, eohippus supplemented its diet with young shoots of plants. He had developed molars chewing teeth, similar to those that the nature of modern horses has awarded.
The first representative of the horse family was Eogippus, which means "Dawn Horse".
Orohippus
About 20-30 million years ago, hyracotheres were replaced by orohippuses adapted for survival. Despite the fact that the number of species of this animal has already reached two hundred, only the one mentioned above continued the evolutionary chain of modern horses.
The growth of this fossil horse was already a little higher - it reached a confident half a meter. A short mane was formed from the protruding hair, and the tail was like a horse. Hooves were still not formed on the paws of the animal, however, the development of middle fingers was already observed, which became larger and rougher. Lateral at this time turned into bone growths rather than fingers.
This transformation of the beast began along with their migration from a completely wooded area to the steppe, where they had to move on harder ground. Moreover, in the flat expanses, the orogippus had a noticeable speed advantage, which made it possible to run away from predators.
merigippus
The next important and long link in the development of the species was the merigippus, which appeared about 20 million years ago. Their feet were still three-toed, but the middle toe was becoming more and more like a hoof. Teeth were considered fully chewing, because these ancestors ate exclusively plant foods.
The growth of the animal, equal to 90 cm, and the unique flair gave reason to consider the species as close as possible to a modern horse.
Anchiterius
Along with many other species in North America, and then in Europe, anchiteria appeared. These animals became even larger than their ancestors and reached the size of a modern pony. The middle finger has become even more pronounced than the side ones.
During this period, a cooling began on the planet, which led to an increase in the area of the steppes and the retreat of forests. These climatic changes began to affect the ancient horses, which in turn had to adapt in order to survive.
Anchiterius was similar to a small horse and reached the size of modern ponies.
The appearance of the anchiterium began to change: the legs became longer, and the front of the skull also lengthened.
hipparion
The vast territories of America, Eurasia and even Africa began to be populated by hipparion, known as the first prehistoric horse, which completely got rid of the lateral fingers. He didn't have hooves yet, but appearance was most like a horse. It became completely extinct 1.5 million years ago.
Pliohippus
Constant climate change began to change the habitats of horses even more. When about 15 million years ago, on the territory of modern Africa, moist soil began to turn into a savannah with dry soil, hipparions began to be replaced by pliogippus, which also populated Europe and Asia. This species became the ancestor of the Przewalski's horse, zebra, donkey and other families of equids. However, pliogippus could not resist natural disasters and completely disappeared from the face of the Earth, passing on the branch of development of the already modern horse.
Within the territory of North America during the global cooling, the horses died out, and reappeared there during the opening of the mainland by European colonialists.
Przewalski's horse
Appeared several thousand years ago and survived to this day. It was discovered by the scientist N. M. Przhevalsky in Tibet. It currently lives in untouched natural areas in Asia, in protected reserves and zoos. Recognized as the likely wild ancestor of the domestic horse. The growth of the animal is already 130 cm, and the weight is over 300 kg.
The Przewalski's horse has survived to this day and is recognized as the probable ancestor of domestic horses.
This horse can also be found on the territory of the city of Pripyat, in the exclusion zone, where scientists brought 17 heads for further breeding. The experiment was successful, since now there are already 59 individuals.
Tarpan
Tarpan, according to many scientists, is also the predecessor of the modern horse. He has a trained body of gray color and an upright mane - typical signs of wild horses. The horse was mentioned in 1900 as a domesticated resident of a private Polish menagerie, which belonged to the Zamoyski pandom. Later, the animals were presented to the peasants, who began to breed them. However, the tarpan could not stand captivity and began to die out. The last living wild tarpan was seen in 1980.
modern horse
This is the only branch of evolutionary development that has survived to this day. Most live in captivity and serve man. In rural areas, horses are used as horse-drawn vehicles for transporting goods. Horse clubs are being formed in the suburbs, where everyone can order a horse ride through the forest.
Scientists have proven that horseback riding is therapeutic for people suffering from diseases of the musculoskeletal system. This is how hippotherapy was born.
Horses are associated with historical events and great figures. For example, in honor of the famous horse of Alexander the Great, an entire city, Bucephalus, was named. During the time of the Russian Tsar, Ivan the Terrible, they minted a bargaining chip depicting a rider with a spear on a horse - a spearman, which was eventually called a penny.
ancestor of horses
First letter "t"
Second letter "a"
Third letter "r"
The last beech is the letter "n"
Answer for the clue "Ancestor of horses", 6 letters:
tarpan
Alternative questions in crossword puzzles for the word tarpan
Wild ancestor of the domestic horse
The horse that once ran across Europe
Odd-toed tarpan animal
Extinct wild horse
The horse that once ran across the steppe
An extinct wild horse of gray color with a black mane and tail, found in the steppes of Eastern Europe
Word definitions for tarpan in dictionaries
Wikipedia
The meaning of the word in the Wikipedia dictionary
Tarpan: The Tarpan is an extinct ancestor of the modern horse, a subspecies of the Wild Horse. Tarpan, Ruslan Serafimovich (born 1971) - entrepreneur, philanthropist, deputy of the city council of Odessa. EKr1 "Tarpan" - Ukrainian high-speed electric train.
Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language, Vladimir Dal
The meaning of the word in the dictionary Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language, Vladimir Dal
m. Equus caballus ferus, wild horse of the Kirghiz steppes, see also kulan and dzhigitai. Tarpan is a name not quite explained by scientists; he is mujin and takya; Is it a wild horse or a wild horse? Recently, according to legend, he lived in Novorossiysk. steppes.
Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. D.N. Ushakov
The meaning of the word in the dictionary Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. D.N. Ushakov
tarpana, m. (Turk.). A wild horse that lived until the end of the 19th century in the steppes of Europe and Western Siberia, now preserved in some protected areas (for example, in Belovezhskaya Pushcha).
Examples of the use of the word tarpan in the literature.
Young horse from the herd or wild caught tarpan easier in science than a stupid horse that has been in stupid hands.
They ran here and there tarpans, and the tours, not so cautious in their strength, looked at the horsemen and again lowered their heads, tearing off the grass.
In the hands of the Slobozhans, the bow becomes a terrible long-range weapon, and close up, a hundred paces, the Slobozhan will pierce a goat, and in the tour or in tarpana- a wild horse - will drive an arrow to the feather.
Will not hear - tarpan not a wolf, he is like a deer, they chase him, he tries to hear what is behind him.
Then he said aloud: - Well, why can you be wise, command crowds, fight incessantly, have a brilliant mind, like a diamond, and at the same time remain tiny, like tarpan and blind as a caterpillar?
According to some reports, the world lives over 100 million horses. The vast majority of them are representatives of numerous breeds of domestic horses. There are practically no wild animals left. It took tens of millions of years for a small fox-like creature that lived in prehistoric forests to turn into a beautiful creation of nature, striking with harmonious shapes and proportions.
During a long evolutionary process, types of animals were formed, each of which introduced its own “brick” into the modern phenotype of the domestic horse. Read about how this happened in this article.
Zoological passport
All breeds of the modern domestic horse, its fossil ancestors and current wild relatives make up the detachment of the equine family of the horse family (Equus). The latter includes several subgenera: - real horses, - half-donkeys, - donkeys, - zebras.
Change and natural selection
The evolutionary history of the horse genus begins around 60-70 million years ago. It is possible to talk about the fauna and flora of prehistoric times only on the basis of facts and findings studied by paleontology. Thanks to the Russian scientist Kovalevsky, who was attracted by the fossil forms of horses, the main stages in the development of the horse genus are well defined. The scientist proved that the course of the process, its duration, intensity were actively influenced by changes in the external living conditions of animals.
The history of the appearance and development of the equine genus of the horse most clearly proves the fidelity of Darwin's theory, based on the principle of variability, heredity and natural selection. Thanks to these laws, from generation to generation, more and more new groups and species of animals have arisen that differ from their ancestors. The constantly changing environment required animals to adapt to new living conditions. Adaptability is the key to the survival of a species. Throughout the course of equine evolution, we see a constant change in jaws and limbs. From species to species, the chewing apparatus became more powerful, the limbs lengthened, there was a change in the method of movement. What caused these transformations? Let's talk about this in more detail...
Eohippus and Hyracotherium
The ancient ancestors of the horse appeared in the Eocene era (about 60 million years ago). One of them was Eogippus, which lived in the rainforests of North America. His relative - chiracotherium chose the lands of present-day Western Europe. It would be impossible to recognize in this freak (no more than half a meter tall) with a convex back, a small head on a short neck - future powerful heavy trucks, graceful Akhal-Teke horses, Arabian horses as fast as the wind.
The ancient creature looked more like a dog or a sheep. The paleontological remains of this animal were discovered in the 60s of the 19th century. Interestingly, the name "Eogippus" is translated as "First Horse". Soft fruits and succulent leaves served as food for eogippus. Therefore, his teeth did not at all resemble the teeth of a modern horse. They had a low crown, because they were adapted for pinching and grinding delicate vegetation. When walking, the animal leaned on four fingers of thin front paws. The hind limbs had three toes.
Remains of an ancient creature Evolution continues
The species Eohippus and Chiracotherium existed for about two tens of millions of years, from the Eocene to the Oligocene. They settled in the vast territories of America and Eurasia. Where the Bering Strait is now located, in ancient times the two continents were connected by a narrow isthmus. The chiracotheriums and eogippuses wandered along this "bridge". In the end, they gave way under the sun of a prehistoric planet to larger animals, in which all limbs were equipped with three fingers. These were: mesohippus, parahippus, anchiteria. The Miocene epoch has begun. It got much colder. Instead of swampy impenetrable jungle, broad-leaved forests have grown, boundless steppes and meadows have spread. 
To survive, all branches of the horse family had to change their diet. Juicy fruits and shoots are a thing of the past. They were replaced by dry and tough grass. This led to changes in the chewing apparatus. Comb-shaped enamel irregularities appeared on the surface of the mesochippus teeth, and the height of the crowns increased. More perfect jaws helped to chew hard food more thoroughly. The soft marshy soil was replaced by the firmament. This was the reason for the improvement of limbs in new species of ancient equid.
On the remains of Mesohippus, we see that they had three toes on all four legs. But when walking, they relied on a more developed middle finger, which ends in a hoof. The animal itself has become much larger than its predecessors. His height already reached 120 cm. Another type of ancient horse, who lived around the same time, was anchiteria. They made a journey from America to Asia about 24 million years ago. But that didn't help them. The Anchiterii, which were the size of a pony, died out without leaving behind any heirs.
One-toed ancestors
The Ankhiterii were replaced by the Pliohippus. Their zoological ancestor, hipparion, settled in the Upper Miocene ( 5 million years) large areas. He pushed other types of fossil horses. Herds of thousands of hipparions migrated from North America to Asia. Then they mastered the steppe expanses of Europe. But the hipparions failed to get into Africa, Australia and South America, the seas and wide straits prevented them. The descendants of the hipparions, the one-toed pliogippus, completely ousted all the three-toed ones from the planet. The replacement of some widespread species by others occurred in the Pliocene epoch (5.0-2.5 million years ago).
Pliohippus remains show that many of the features of the modern horse were present in this animal. Although the differences are still quite significant. The similarity with the current types of horses is noticeable in the device of the chewing apparatus. The enamel undulating ridges on the teeth of Pliohippus are more pronounced than those of its fossil predecessors. The enamel layer is thicker than, for example, that of the same hipparion. Scientists believe that the ancestors of the modern genus Equus (horses) are precisely pliogippus and its descendant, plesippus. Winning advantage.
Forced to live on the prairies, the three-toed ancestors of modern horses could no longer use the foot as a support. They were defenseless against ancient predators. Among their enemies were the ancestors of today's wolves. It was necessary to urgently change the way of movement, learn to run. Pleohippus become single-toed. Of course, this did not happen in one day. But already in their earlier predecessors we see a gradual modification of the limbs. Development of one finger and atrophy of the rest. On the pleohippus, this process comes to an end. He already has well-developed middle fingers on his feet, protected from blows by a keratinized nail (hoof). Single-fingeredness has become a winning advantage for the pliohippus in the fight against other equine species for survival. Thanks to relying on one finger, the animals raced faster than their enemies. 
ancient pliogippus
Scientists find the remains of pliogippus in many parts of the world: in Africa, North America, Europe. Thanks to these finds, its appearance has been restored. He has an elongated skull with a forehead narrower than that of modern horses. Small teeth and thin legs with strong hooves. With the help of these bone plates, the pliohippus hoofed the snow, extracting grass. Geological processes have once again changed the face of the Earth. Where the seas used to stretch, the land was exposed, the isthmuses connected the continents.
The pliohippus had no obstacles left to conquer all parts of the world. They inhabited almost all corners of the Earth. They left a rich offspring, from which later descended those who are now united by zoologists in the horse family: zebras, wild donkeys and half-donkeys, wild Przewalski horses and domestic horses of all breeds. And suddenly all the pliohippuses, as well as their descendants from them, disappeared. What happened?
Cold and troglodytes
Why did all the ancient horses die out in a short period of time in North America a million years ago? Maybe it happened due to glaciation to which the mainland has been exposed. The return of the Ecwid to their historical homeland took place only in the 15th century, during the time of the conquistodors. Africa was more fortunate, its climate changed without sharp fluctuations, so archaic subspecies of the horse genus, zebras and donkeys, were preserved there. In Europe and Asia, two species, then still wild horses, were able to survive. They existed until the time when, in addition to all other predators, they had another dangerous and ferocious enemy. Ancient horses were hunted by humanoid creatures called troglodytes. Recently standing on two limbs, not much different from animals, future humans were effective hunters. Arranging a raid, in which the whole tribe participated, they drove the animals into a deep ravine, where they finished them off with stones and spears. After the meat of the ancient horse was eaten, it was painted on the walls of the cave. It happened during the next ice age.
Primitive horses
There have been several critical cold snaps in the history of the Earth. Each of them radically changed the flora and fauna. Europe was subjected to especially sharp changes in climate and landscape. The increasingly harsh external environment accelerated the evolutionary process of the animal and plant world. That is why a subspecies of real horses has developed in Europe, which are quite different from their other neighbors in the genus - zebras and donkeys. Primitive horses that lived 10-11 thousand years ago differed little from modern horses. The transformation of the limbs and jaws, their elongation caused changes in the proportions of other parts of the body of the equid.
They became taller, the head was crowned with a long neck. Surveying the surroundings, looking for danger, has become much more convenient. The structure of the brain of ice age horses became more and more complex, animals acquired new physiological qualities that help them survive. But in the end, almost all wild horses were exterminated by primitive hunters. Remaining wild individuals various kinds in the Neolithic became the object of domestication.
Scientists believe that about 10 thousand years ago (the end of the ice age), three types of primitive wild horses, differing from each other in their habitat, size and physique, became the blood forefathers of modern breeds. The animals that lived in the forests were tall and broad-boned. Living in the steppes and on the hilly plains, they had graceful stature and fast running. The color also depended on the habitat, from brown to yellowish sand.
From them came the breeds
The pedigree of the current heavy trucks zoologists lead from forest horses. The broad-boned, powerful skeleton of animals was covered with thick skin with coarse wool. Growth reached more than one and a half meters at the withers. Forest horses firmly rested on the ground powerful legs. Horse bones were found in layers of late Paleolithic sites excavated in river valleys from the Western Dvina to the Dnieper and Don. The remains of the forest horse have been found elsewhere in Europe. For example, on the territory of the present Arkhangelsk and Vologda regions Russia. The researchers found on the shores of Lake Ladoga the bones of a very large wild horse that lived about 4 thousand years ago. If desired, in the guise of massive heavy trucks, you can see the features of their distant ancestor, who lived in the coniferous forests of the glacial and post-glacial periods. 
Big-headed steppe horse survived to this day only in zoos. It is known under the name of the Przewalski's horse. It is named after a Russian traveler who discovered this horse subgenus in the Mongolian steppes in the 19th century. Since the Neolithic, stallions and mares of this species have retained a small but well-developed body, short ears, and a stiff black mane “hedgehog”. lower part her muzzle is adorned with long sideburns. Savrasaya suit is found in various shades. Dark "stockings" are stretched up to the knees of Przewalski's horse. These small horses (height 120 - 130 cm) lived in the arid regions of Central Asia from the Stone Age to the 70-80s of the last century. Here the semi-deserts are occupied by wormwood, salt marshes, dry thorny bushes of saxaul grow in the lowlands. In search of food, the herds traveled vast waterless distances. Thousands of years of harsh life have developed amazing endurance in horses. About 2,000 steppe horses are now in captivity. They have not been seen in the wild for decades.
Tarpans are another species whose blood flows in the veins of representatives of modern domestic horses. Their numerous herds crushed feather grass in the Don, Volga, Ukrainian and Crimean steppes until the second half of the 19th century. Free wild horses rushed across the deserted, unplowed expanses. They also met in the Lithuanian forests, in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. The South Russian tarpan had a short thick neck and a gray skin. A dark stripe in the form of a belt ran down the back. According to one evidence, the last tarpan died in the 80s of the 19th century. According to others, it happened later, in 1918-19. Zoologists believe that the blood of this tireless horse with a miniature head flows in representatives of many Russian breeds. 
Wild tarpans were distinguished by their aggressive temper, were cautious, easily evaded the chase, and could run for hours at high speed. Nobody managed to tame adult tarpans. Only caught by foals, tarpans with difficulty, but obeyed a man. Wild tarpans were exterminated with the help of firearms. But that's another story…
The history of the horse goes back 65 million years (Early Eocene). It is to this period that finds of the remains of the ancestor of modern horses - eogippus, who lived in North America, as well as his European relative hyracotheria. Eohippus was 30-50 cm tall, it had an arched back, a long tail and a large head, the front part of which was strongly elongated. The front legs were elongated and ended with four fingers, and the hind legs with three. It lived in swampy forests, eating mainly leaves, sometimes insects and small animals. His teeth were adapted for pinching the leaves of young shoots, and grinding them. Permanent teeth eohippus were low with tubercles on the chewing surface. It is by the structure and arrangement of teeth that scientists have determined in eohippus the first ancestor of the modern horse.
Larger, the size of a greyhound dog, mesogippus, found in Oligocene deposits, already had only three fingers on both limbs, but his lateral fingers still reached the ground. The crowns of the molars were low, although they had a flat, folded chewing surface, allowing him to chew on tough leaves. He lived in the forest and in his way of life resembled tapirs.
merigippus was closest to the modern horse. The height of the merigippus at the withers is on average 90 cm. The foot was still three-toed, but the load was transferred to the middle finger. The molars were covered with strong bone enamel. Merigippus had a subtle flair- this is a trait that characterizes the modern horse and serves as its protection. merigippus was one of the most durable links in the evolutionary chain of horses.
merigippus
Anchiteria- were already larger, the size of a modern pony, their 2 lateral fingers were much shorter than the average. They first appeared in America, then migrated to Eurasia.
Cooling began 25 million years ago, and treeless spaces appeared. Prior to this, all land was covered with forests, and, naturally, animals were adapted to life in them. New living conditions led to the development of new instincts. The structure of the body also did not remain unchanged: did the jaws become more massive? increased tooth strength. As a result, the facial part of the skull was stretched, and the cranium and eye sockets moved back. The neck has lengthened to make it easier to reach the ground. With long legs, it became easier to run away from predators, and the middle finger increased in size and became keratinized, gradually turning into a hoof.
So 15 million years ago, the first one-toed horse, the hipparion, appeared. From this ancestor originates the classification of the domestic horse and all its surviving relatives.
Hipparions were very numerous, but they did not yet have hooves. They appeared, like many species, in America, and then, through Alaska and the isthmus, which then connected America and Eurasia, they penetrated into Europe, Asia and even Africa. The question remains unresolved whether hipparions direct ancestors of horses or is it a side branch. But somehow they were already closer to modern horses than anyone. Approximately 5 million years ago there were pliogippus- one-toed horses. had the proportions of a modern horse.
On Earth, changes began to occur again: in the savannahs, where they lived in abundance hipparions, highly moistened soil, on which succulent plants grew, was replaced by dry steppes. And hipparions, displaced pliogippus began to die out. quickly populated Europe, Asia and Africa. Descendants pliogippus became those whom science refers to the equine family of the equine order, - zebras, Przewalski's horses, donkeys, wild donkeys, half donkeys and the horses themselves. All of them are distinguished by long and thin limbs with one third finger protected by a hoof.
Horses were one of the most common species on earth, but in Europe, ancient horses became extinct at the beginning of the Oligocene., without leaving descendants: they were probably exterminated by numerous predators. In America, ancient horses continued to develop. Subsequently, modern horses descended from them, which through the Bering Strait penetrated into Europe and Asia. In America the ancestors of horses became extinct at the beginning of the Pleistocene and appeared there again only with the arrival of colonialists from Europe.
Until the end, the question of the immediate ancestor of the modern horse remains unclear.
Until recently, the ancestors of the horse were considered its wild relatives - kulan, Przewalski's horse and tarpan. They used to think that there were more ancestors, but then settled on these three.
Kulan, or dzhigetai, is a typical representative of the steppes and semi-deserts. Kulans lived in the vast expanses of Mongolia, Northwest China, Kazakhstan and in the regions of Turkmenistan. Now they are rare. Kulans are somewhat larger than onagers, but less kiangs the largest of half words living on the plateaus of Southwestern China and Tibet. The growth of kulans is on average 115 cm; their body is light, the limbs are thin. Kulan has great running agility ( It is believed that the kulan is one of the fastest among ungulates.: can reach speeds of up to 65 kilometers per hour, and on short distances- more than 70). In the 30s, an interesting attempt was made in the Soviet Union to tame kulans and cross them with horses, but the resulting hybrids turned out to be fruitless.
Przewalski's horse is closer to a domestic horse. Reasons to consider it an ancestor: among the ancestors of the domestic horse, 2 types are distinguished - light, thin-boned and larger and heavier. It was believed that the Przewalski's horse belongs to the second type. But the Soviet scientist V. I. Gromova, the greatest expert on the history of horses, proved on the basis of thorough research that Przewalski's horse has nothing to do with modern horses, although it is a close relative. Subsequently, this opinion was confirmed by chromosomal analysis: the Przewalski's horse turned out to have 66 pairs of chromosomes, and the domestic one - 64.
The tarpan remained. He is indeed the ancestor of the domestic horse. But in 1879 the last free tarpan died. It was a tarpaniha that went down in history under the name " one-eyed tarpan".
Nevertheless... Anyone who was in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha Reserve could see a small, mouse-colored horse with a standing mane typical of wild horses. This is a tarpan.
There was a rather rich menagerie on the estate of the Zamoyskis. Among other animals in it were tarpans, but in 1908 the owners decided to distribute 20 tarpans to the peasants. From these tarpans a large offspring appeared, in which signs of wild animals were scattered bit by bit tarpans. In 1936, Polish scientists decided to put these features together and recreate tarpana. They succeeded: horses appeared, in all respects similar to their wild ancestors, having one of the most typical signs of wild horses - a standing short mane.