Onager Onager The onager (; "Equus hemionus"), also known as hemione or Asiatic wild ass, is a species of the family Equidae (horse family) native to Asia. A member of the subgenus "Asinus", the onager was described and given its binomial name by German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas in 1775. Five subspecies have been recognized, one of which is extinct. The Asiatic wild ass is larger than the African wild ass at about and (head-body length). They are reddish-brown or yellowish-brown in color and have broad dorsal stripe on the middle of the back. Unlike most horses and donkeys, onagers have
Onager ancestor of all modern equids (members of the genus "Equus") lived around 5.6 (3.9–7.8) million years ago (Mya). Direct paleogenomic sequencing of a 700,000-year-old middle Pleistocene horse metapodial bone from Canada implies a more recent 4.07 Mya for the most recent common ancestor within the range of 4.0 to 4.5 Mya. The oldest divergencies are the Asian hemiones (subgenus "E. (Asinus)", including the kulan, onager, and kiang), followed by the African zebras (subgenera "E. (Dolichohippus)", and "E. (Hippotigris)"). All other modern forms including the domesticated horse (and many fossil Pliocene and Pleistocene forms) belong to the subgenus "E. (Equus)" which