Zorse
From Free net encyclopedia
A zorse is the offspring of a zebra stallion and a horse mare. It is a zebroid: this term refers to any hybrid equine with zebra ancestry.
The zorse is shaped more like a horse than a zebra, but has boldly striped legs and, often, stripes on the body or neck. Like most other interspecies hybrids, it is infertile.
Cossar Ewart, Professor of Natural History at Edinburgh (1882-1927) and a keen geneticist, crossed a zebra stallion with horse and pony mares in order to investigate the theory of telegony, or paternal impression. Cossar Ewart used Arabian mares. Similar experiments were carried out by the US Government and reported in "Genetics in Relation to Agriculture" by E B Babcock and RE Clausen and in "The Science of Life" by H G Wells, J Huxley and GP Wells (c.1929).
Zebras, donkeys, and horses are all members of the family equus - Equines. They are all slightly different in genetic makeup, but still all equines. Equines can be crossbred to produce hybrids. That is, horses have 64 chromosomes, Zebra have 62. The cross between a Zebra Jack (Stallion) and a mare Horse is called a Zorse. (Zorses can be male or female, either one, but are sterile since their chromosome count is 63). The zorse looks a bit like a horse, a bit like a mule, but covered in dark stripes. All zebra hybrids can use the one term Zebroid, or zebra hybrid. The proper specialized term for a zebra x horse is Zorse, zebra x pony is Zony (sometimes spelled zeony but not correct).
Quote
"It soon became apparent that zorses are not the most easiest of the equine family to get along with." -- Trainer Pat Parelli, on working with zorses.