Onager (their status in China is not well known). Persian onagers are currently being reintroduced in the Middle East as replacements for the extinct Syrian wild ass in the Arabian Peninsula, Israel and Jordan. The specific name is Ancient Greek ἡμίονος ("hēmíonos"), from ἡμι- (hēmi-), half, and ὄνος (ónos), donkey; thus, half-donkey or mule. In Persian the archaic word "gur" preserves the second syllable of the common Indo-European term that includes "ona"/"ono" (donkey) and "ger"/"gur" (swift). The species was commonly known as Asian wild ass, in which case the term "onager" was reserved for the "E. h. onager" subspecies, more specifically
Onager (weapon) could be winched back again. The onagers of the Roman Empire were mainly used for besieging forts or settlements. They would often be armed with large stones that could be covered with a combustible substance and set alight. The onager was used from the 4th century AD until the 6th century AD. The late-fourth century author Ammianus Marcellinus describes 'onager' as a neologism for scorpions and relates various incidents in which the engines fire both rocks and arrow-shaped missiles. The late-fourth or early-fifth century military writer Vegetius stipulates that a legion ought to field ten onagers, one for each cohort.