Equus (genus)

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Equus () is a genus of herbivorous mammals in the perissodactyl (odd-toed ungulates) family Equidae, which includes horses, asses and zebras. Within the Equidae, Equus is the only recognized extant taxon, comprising eight living species, as well as numerous extinct species known only from fossils. All members of the genus are cursorial quadrupeds with slender unguligrade (toe walking) legs, long-snouted head with hypsodonty, relatively long necks with dorsal manes (erect in most subspecies), and long multi-stranded tail. They are mostly pseudoruminant grazers with simpler digestive systems than ruminants but able to subsist on lower-quality vegetation. The genus originated in North America during the Eocene and dispersed into the Old World and South America during the Early and Middle Pleistocene. While the domestic horse breeds and donkeys now exist worldwide due to human introduction and husbandry, wild equine populations are limited only to Africa and Asia and threatened by human activities...

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