What is it about?
Plains zebras (Equus quagga) and mountain zebras (Equus zebra) are closely related and probably evolved from a common ancestor about 1.7 million years ago. Nevertheless, some authors described the former as being "equine" and the latter as being "asinine." This paper examines why these distinctions were made and how, in some cases, this led artists to portray plains zebras with horse-like tails.
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Photo by Ron Dauphin on Unsplash
Why is it important?
How we perceive animals and other organisms affects our attitudes towards them which, in turn, influences decisions about conservation, etc. This case study of zebras highlights the irrational attitudes towards animals held by some people.
Perspectives
As a cell biologist who has mainly studied the ultrastructure of unicellular organisms, I challenged myself to research how people perceived animals. Many of my sources were nineteenth-century authors and their descriptions were based on gross morphology and such characteristics as whether a particular species of zebra could be used as a draft animal, or not.
Professor of Biology Peter Heywood
Brown University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Ways of Seeing Nonhuman Animals: Some Likened Zebras to Horses, Others to Asses, Society and Animals, October 2020, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/15685306-bja10027.
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