onager
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on·a·ger
(ŏn'ə-jər) 
n.
n.
- A fast-running wild ass (Equus hemionus subsp. onager) of central Asia, having an erect mane and a broad black stripe along its back.
- An ancient and medieval stone-propelling siege engine.
[Middle English, from Late Latin, from Latin, wild ass, from Greek onagros : onos, ass + agrios, wild.]
onager (ŏn'əjər) or Persian wild ass, wild ass of central Asia, Equus hemonius onager. One of the several races of Asian wild ass (E. hemonius), it formerly ranged widely across S Russia, Iran, and Afghanistan. A small, slenderly built animal, it stands about 4 ft (120 cm) high at the shoulder. Its back and legs are rusty brown and its belly white. It has a black tail tuft, a short, stiff black mane, and a black spinal stripe lined with white on either side. For many centuries it was hunted for sport by the Persian nobility, and young onagers were captured for the breeding of riding animals. Owing to the swiftness and endurance of the onager, relatively few animals were captured by traditional methods. However, since the invention of modern firearms and automobiles, the animals have been extensively slaughtered for their flesh and hides. They survive in Russia only on the Badkhys reserve and are greatly reduced in numbers elsewhere. The continued existence of the race is in doubt. The onager is classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Perissodactyla, family Equidae.
Science Q&A:
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What is an onager?
The onager was the simplest of the early catapults. One type of onager twisted a mass of human hair or animal sinew with one wooden beam inserted into it. Geared winches were used to twist the hair or sinew without letting it unwind. To load it, soldiers manned a windlass, which pulled the beam down until it was horizontal, which added more twist to the fiber. A stone was attached to the end of the beam, and this weapon was fired when a soldier pulled a rope that released the beam from its mooring.
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onager
IN BRIEF: n. - Asiatic wild ass; Medieval artillery used during sieges.
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categories related to 'onager'
- horse
- Blades, Clubs, and Projectiles - onager: heavy catapult
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Onager
This article is about the horse species. For the weapon, see Onager (siege weapon).
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This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (April 2009) |
| Onager | |
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| A member of the onager subspecies (Equus hemionus kulan, the Turkmenian kulan) at Korkeasaari Zoo. | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | Equidae |
| Genus: | Equus |
| Subgenus: | Asinus |
| Species: | E. hemionus |
| Binomial name | |
| Equus hemionus Pallas, 1775 |
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| Equus hemionus range | |
The onager (Equus hemionus) is a large member of the genus Equus of the family Equidae (horse family) native to the deserts of Syria, Iran, Pakistan, India, Israel and Tibet.[2] It is also known as the Asiatic wild ass,[3] Asian wild ass or wild Asian ass (in which case the term "onager" is reserved for the E. h. onager subspecies,[3] more specifically known as the Persian onager).
Like many other large grazing animals, the onager's range has contracted greatly under the pressures of hunting/poaching and habitat loss.[3] Of the five subspecies, one is extinct and at least two are endangered[3] (their status in China is not well known[3]).
The kiang (E. kiang), a Tibetan relative, was previously considered to be a subspecies of the onager as E. hemionus kiang, but recent molecular studies indicate that it is a distinct species.
The specific name is Ancient Greek ἡμίονος (hēmíonos), from ἡμι- (hēmi-), half, and ὄνος (ónos), donkey; thus, half-donkey or mule. In Persian the archaic word gur preserves the second syllable of the common Indo-European term that includes ona/ono (donkey) and ger/gur (swift).
Onagers are a little larger than donkeys at about 290 kilograms (640 lb) and 2.1 metres (6.9 ft) (head-body length), and are a little more horse-like. They are short-legged compared to horses, and their coloring varies depending on the season. They are generally reddish-brown in color during the summer, becoming yellowish-brown in the winter months. They have a black stripe bordered in white that extends down the middle of the back. They are notoriously untameable. Equids were used in ancient Sumer to pull wagons circa 2600 BC, and then chariots on the Standard of Ur, circa 2000 BC. Clutton-Brock (1992) suggests that these were donkeys rather than onagers on the basis of a "shoulder stripe".[4] However, close examination of the animals (equids, sheep and cattle) on both sides of the piece indicate that what appears to be a stripe may well be a harness, a trapping, or a joint in the inlay. For Sumerian references to onagers, see Heimpel (1968)[5] and Maekawa (1979).[6]
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Contents
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Subspecies
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, "the taxonomic relationships and distributions of Asiatic wild assess should be clarified."[3] Widely recognized subspecies include:[3]
- Mongolian wild ass (khulan) Equus hemionus hemionus
- Turkmenian kulan, (kulan) Equus hemionus kulan
- Persian onager (gur) Equus hemionus onager
- Indian wild ass (khur) Equus hemionus khur
- Syrian wild ass, Equus hemionus hemippus (extinct)
A sixth possible subspecies, the Gobi khulan (E. h. luteus,[1] also called the chigetai[7] or dziggetai) has been proposed, but may be syonymous with E. h. hemionus.
See also
References
- ^ a b Moehlman, P. D., Shah, N. & Feh, C. (2008). "Equus hemionus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. International Union for Conservation of Nature. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/7951. Retrieved 07 Nov. 2010.
- ^ Grubb, Peter (16 November 2005). "Order Perissodactyla (pp. 629-636)". In Wilson, Don E., and Reeder, DeeAnn M., eds. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols. (2142 pp.). p. 632. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=14100020.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Asiatic Wild Ass Equus hemionus". IUCN.org. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN/SSC Equid Specialist Group. http://data.iucn.org/themes/ssc/sgs/equid/ASWAss.html.
- ^ Clutton-Brock, Juliet (1992). Horse Power: A History of the Horse and the Donkey in Human Societies. Boston, Massachusetts, US: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-40646-9.
- ^ Heimpel, Wolfgang (1968). Tierbilder in der Sumerische Literatur. Italy: Studia Pohl 2.
- ^ Maekawa, K. (1979). "The Ass and the Onager in Sumer in the Late Third Millennium B.C.". Acta Sumerologica' (Hiroshima) I: 35–62..
- ^ Porter, Valerie (ed.); Ian Lauder Mason (2002). Mason's World Dictionary of Livestock Breeds, Types, and Varieties (5th ed.). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 0-85199-430-X.
- Duncan, P. (ed.). 1992. Zebras, Asses, and Horses: an Action Plan for the Conservation of Wild Equids. IUCN/SSC Equid Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.[clarification needed]]]
External links
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