Hi, Mr. Nature here, with a prehistoric critter that I never heard of until this day–when I saw its picture on the side of a U-Haul truck. It’s amazing, what you can learn from unexpected sources.
Hagerman’s horse, aka the American zebra, was discovered in Idaho almost a hundred years ago and is Idaho’s state fossil. (Our New Jersey state fossil is Hadrosaurus, whose remains first taught us that some dinosaurs were bipeds.) It belongs to the genus Equus, which includes all modern horses, and its skeleton most closely resembles that of a zebra–hence the nickname.
How do we know it had stripes like a zebra? Simple–we don’t! All we have is bones, so the picture (above) is just a good guess. Won’t we look like dopes if it turns out Hagerman’s horse had purple polka dots?
I like to think of zebras roaming wild on America’s plains, and it would delight me to see one. But the American zebra is extinct–and it can’t be due to Climbit Change because nobody had refrigerators, air conditioners, or toilet paper back then.
But don’t be surprised if God brings it back when He restores His whole creation.
So there are zebra fossils, or more correctly fossils resembling modern zebra in Idaho. Stripes or not, zebras are neat critters.
There was a petting zoo that set up in a nearby town, which had a young zebra. It was really interesting to see. It was much like a horse, but in a petite sort of way. I came away with the impression that it could probably have outrun and out maneuvered a domestic horse. It was to a horse what a sports car is to a sedan.
I’ve loved zebras all my life.
Likewise! They are truly living art.
Me, too. I used to draw and paint them. They are fantastic.