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The
origin of the name "quagga" - This unusual
name for a variety of zebra has been adopted from the Hottentot
speaking indigenous people of the South African interior.
The name "Quagga" has been spelt in a variety
of ways, ra and Grevy Zebra (the latter which occurrs only
in East Africa)... more |
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Extinction
is forever - If a species of animal or plant has
disappeared from the earth, either through natural causes,
or through mankind’s activities, the loss is irreversible.
However, the extinct Quagga was not a zebra species of its
own but one of several subspecies or local forms of the
Plains Zebra. This fact makes a big difference - the Quagga’s
extinction may not be forever... more |
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Why
did the quagga become extinct? - The quagga's
extinction is generally attributed to the "ruthless
hunting", and even "planned extermination"
by colonists. Secondly, the confusion caused by indiscriminate
use of the term "Quagga", for any zebra, prevented
"last minute efforts" to save the Quagga from
extinction... more |
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What
is a species or subspecies? - A population, however
large or small, in which all individuals share basic genetic
characteristics, and therefore produce fertile offspring,
constitutes a species. If various populations within a huge
distribution area do differ from each other in appearance,
they are considered different subspecies... more |
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How
was the quagga related to other zebras? - There
has never been unanimous agreement between zoologists regarding
the Quagga’s relationship to other members of the
horse family. While most scientists accept the Quagga as
belonging to the zebras, in 1980 one researcher did suggest
that the Quagga was more closely related to the horse than
to the zebra... more |
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How many
different zebras are there? - There is a lot of confusion
about Burchell’s Zebra, Quagga and other zebras, despite
there being only three zebra species. The reason for this
is in the history of zebra descriptions and naming. Whenever
an early explorer took a zebra skin from Africa to Europe,
it did not match any of those in collections, so, it "needed
a name"...more |
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Selective
breeding - It is expected that continuous selective
breeding will, with successive generations, reduce the high
degree of individual variation, both in colour and in extent
of striping, which are characteristics of the southern Plains
Zebra. Eventually individuals should emerge whose coat-pattern
characters closely resemble that of the extinct Quagga... more |
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Criticism
of the project - It has been argued that there
might have been other non-morphological, genetically-coded
features (such as habitat adaptations) unique to the Quagga
and that therefore, any animal produced by a selective breeding
programme would not be a genuine Quagga... more |
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Quagga
material in the world’s museums - Iziko South
African Museum, Zoologisch Museum, Naturkunde Museum, Naturhistorisches
Museum, Museum für Naturkunde, Humboldt Universität,
Hessisches Landesmuseum, Royal Scottish Museum, Royal Albert
Memorial Museum, Museum d'Histoire Naturelle... more |
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