Equids--zebras, Asses, and Horses
Equids--zebras, Asses, and Horses

Author: Patricia Des Roses Moehlman

Publisher: IUCN

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 9782831706474

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The new Equid Action Plan provides current knowledge on the biology, ecology and conservation status of wild zebras, asses, and horses. It specifies what information is lacking, and prioritizes needed conservation actions. The Action Plan also provides chapters on equid taxonomy, genetics, reproductive biology, and population dynamics. These chapters highlight unsolved issues of taxonomy and genetics. They also provide information and insight into the special demographic and genetic challenges of managing small populations. The chapter on disease provides a review of documented equine disease and epidemiology and focuses on priorities for equid conservation health. The final chapter deals with the importance of developing an assessment methodology that explicitly considers the role of equids in ecosystems and the ecological processes that are necessary for ecosystem viability. The approach of combining ecological field studies and ecosystem modeling should prove useful for the scientific management and conservation of wild equids worldwide. These chapters provide research and conservation practitioners with new information and paradigms.

Wild Equids
Wild Equids

Author: Jason I. Ransom

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2016-06-01

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 1421419106

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The first expert synthesis of the diverse studies conducted on wild equids worldwide. Wild horses, zebras, asses, and feral equines exhibit intriguing and complex social structures that captivate the human imagination and elicit a wide range of emotions that influence conservation and management efforts. This book, spearheaded by Jason I. Ransom and Petra Kaczensky, brings together the world's leading experts on equid ecology, management, and conservation to provide a synthesis of what is known about these iconic species and what needs to be done to prevent losing some of them altogether. The most comprehensive conservation book on wild equids in decades, this title will enlighten not only equid researchers, but also mammalogists, conservationists, and equine professionals. Readers will find new insight into the lives of the world's horses, zebras, and asses, understand the basis of our relationships with these animals, and develop a greater understanding of where equids come from and why they are worth conserving. Included in this book are detailed, state-of-the-science syntheses on Social structure, behavior, and cognition Habitat and diet Ecological niches Population dynamics Roles of humans in horse distribution through time Human dimensions and the meaning of wild Management of free-roaming horses Captive breeding of wild equids Conservation of wild equids Conservation of migrations Reintroductions Genetics and paleogenetics

Zebra Stripes
Zebra Stripes

Author: Timothy M. Caro

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2016-12-05

Total Pages: 319

ISBN-13: 022641101X

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Why do zebras have stripes? Popular explanations range from camouflage to confusion of predators, social facilitation, and even temperature regulation. It is a challenge to test these proposals on large animals living in the wild, but using a combination of careful observations, simple field experiments, comparative information, and logic, Caro concludes that black-and-white stripes are an adaptation to thwart biting fly attack.

Using Science to Improve the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program
Using Science to Improve the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2013-10-04

Total Pages: 399

ISBN-13: 0309264944

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Using Science to Improve the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program: A Way Forward reviews the science that underpins the Bureau of Land Management's oversight of free-ranging horses and burros on federal public lands in the western United States, concluding that constructive changes could be implemented. The Wild Horse and Burro Program has not used scientifically rigorous methods to estimate the population sizes of horses and burros, to model the effects of management actions on the animals, or to assess the availability and use of forage on rangelands. Evidence suggests that horse populations are growing by 15 to 20 percent each year, a level that is unsustainable for maintaining healthy horse populations as well as healthy ecosystems. Promising fertility-control methods are available to help limit this population growth, however. In addition, science-based methods exist for improving population estimates, predicting the effects of management practices in order to maintain genetically diverse, healthy populations, and estimating the productivity of rangelands. Greater transparency in how science-based methods are used to inform management decisions may help increase public confidence in the Wild Horse and Burro Program.

Fossil Horses
Fossil Horses

Author: Bruce J. MacFadden

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1994-06-24

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 9780521477086

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The horse has frequently been used as a classic example of long-term evolution because it possesses an extensive fossil record. This book synthesizes the large body of data and research relevant to an understanding of fossil horses from perspectives such as biology, geology, paleontology.

The Equids
The Equids

Author: Herbert H. T. Prins

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-09-04

Total Pages: 437

ISBN-13: 3031271440

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The narrative of the progression of the ‘horse family’ through geological time, from dog-sized fruit-eating animals with four toes on their front and three toes on their hind legs, to the valiant long-legged, single-toed modern grazing horses, beloved by racing enthusiasts, is the poster child of evolution. However, like the rhinos or tapirs, the horse-like zebras, wild asses, kulans, kiangs, onagers, and the real horses are often portrayed as being past their evolutionary peak as compared to the more recently evolved ruminants (especially bovids and deer) which now dominate the grazing niche. That story of a species group over its evolutionary zenith is compelling, but anyone who has travelled in the remote savannas of Africa or the cold wild deserts of Central Asia is awed with herds of glorious animals that clearly do not ruminate. It appears as though these, so-named ‘hind-gut fermenters’, are perhaps much better adapted to these environments than one is led to believe. The purpose of this book is to dispel the myth of the inferior Equidae by describing, and investigating, the evolutionary and ecological journey of the horse family in all its glory.

Fowler's Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine, Volume 8
Fowler's Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine, Volume 8

Author: R. Eric Miller

Publisher: Elsevier Health Sciences

Published: 2014-06-02

Total Pages: 793

ISBN-13: 1455773999

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Logically organized by taxonomic groups, this up-to-date text covers the diagnosis and treatment of all zoo animal species and free-ranging wildlife, including amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, and fish, unlikely to be seen by private practice veterinarians. Featuring full-color images, the consistent, user-friendly format supplies information on each animal's biology, unique anatomy, special physiology, reproduction, restraint and handling, housing requirements, nutrition and feeding, surgery and anesthesia, diagnostics, therapeutics, and diseases. Global authorship includes multinational contributors who offer expert information on different species from around the world. "This is a welcome update to an invaluable reference series; a must-have for any veterinary professional working largely in the zoo or wildlife field, and also recommended as a reference text for the library of any practice seeing unusual species on a regular basis, even if they already have an earlier volume."Reviewed by: Charlotte Day on behalf of The Veterinary Record, Oct 14 - Global authorship includes internationally recognized authors who have contributed new chapters focusing on the latest research and clinical management of captive and free-ranging wild animals from around the world. - Zoological Information Management System chapter offers the latest update on this brand new system that contains a worldwide wealth of information. - General taxonomy-based format provides a comprehensive text for sharing information in zoo and wildlife medicine. - Concise tables provide quick reference to key points in the references. - NEW! All new authors have completely revised the content to provide fresh perspectives from leading experts in the field on the latest advances in zoo and wild animal medicine. - NEW! Color images vividly depict external clinical signs for more accurate recognition and diagnosis.

The Handbook of Horses and Donkeys
The Handbook of Horses and Donkeys

Author: Chris J. Mortensen

Publisher: 5m Books Ltd

Published: 2018-11-11

Total Pages: 383

ISBN-13: 1912178990

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Relating to horse and donkey ownership, The Handbook of Horses and Donkeys is an introductory guide providing expert advice on current ethical management practices. The history, evolution, and domestication of equids is covered, along with equine anatomy, physiology, nutrition, behaviour, learning and cognition, communication, health and disease, hoof care, first aid, parasitic infections, preventive measures, pregnancy, and foal management. Functional topics are also covered, including: body condition scoring; estimating body weight; calculating dietary rations; stabling; management of abnormal behaviours; and stereotypes. The information presented is expert-led but designed to be applicable to the novice or experienced owner in the stable yard. (5m Books)

The White River Badlands
The White River Badlands

Author: Rachel C. Benton

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2015-05-25

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 0253016088

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This guide to the South Dakota region that houses the world’s richest fossil beds does “an excellent job of presenting the current state of knowledge” (Choice). The forbidding Big Badlands in Western South Dakota contain the richest fossil beds in the world. Even today these rocks continue to yield new specimens brought to light by snowmelt and rain washing away soft rock deposited on a floodplain long ago. The quality and quantity of the fossils are superb: most of the species to be found there are known from hundreds of specimens. The fossils in the White River Group (and similar deposits in the American west) preserve the entire late Eocene through the middle Oligocene, roughly 35-30 million years ago and more than thirty million years after non-avian dinosaurs became extinct. The fossils provide a detailed record of a period of abrupt global cooling and what happened to creatures who lived through it. This book is a comprehensive reference to the sediments and fossils of the Big Badlands, and also touches on National Park Service management policies that help protect such significant fossils. Includes photos and illustrations “A worthy successor to the work of O’Harra.” —Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology

Ecology of Social Evolution
Ecology of Social Evolution

Author: Judith Korb

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2008-02-23

Total Pages: 270

ISBN-13: 3540759573

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The time is ripe to investigate similarities and differences in the course of social evolution in different animals. This book brings together renowned researchers working on sociality in different animals to deal with the key questions of sociobiology. For the first time, they compile the evidence for the importance of ecological factors in the evolution of social life, ranging from invertebrate to vertebrate social systems, and evaluate its importance versus that of relatedness.