| Equus capensis Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | Equidae |
| Genus: | Equus |
| Subgenus: | Hippotigris |
| Species: | †E. capensis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Equus capensis Broom, 1909 | |
Equus capensis (E. capensis), also referred to as the Giant Cape zebra or previously the “robust zebra”, is an extinct species of zebra[1] that is estimated to have lived from the early Pleistocene and to the early Holocene age in northeastern, eastern and southern Africa. E. capensis is estimated to have grown to about 150 cm (59 in) at the withers and 400 kg (880 lb) in body mass.
E. capensis was first described from the Cape Town region of South Africa in 1909[2] by British-South African palaeontologist and professor of zoology Robert Broom.
Taxonomically it is a separate, extinct species within the zebra clade, related to the plains zebra (Equus quagga) found today.
The largest amount of research on E. capensis has taken place in South Africa; as a result, scientists have determined that this species grazed on the lush C3 grasses that once dominated the southwestern Cape of South Africa, a marked difference from the arid and semi-arid fynbos vegetation that characterizes the region today. In this lush landscape, E. capensis grazed alongside several other now-extinct large herbivores who favored lush grass: giant wildebeest (Megalotragus priscus), long-horn buffalo (Syncerus antiquus), the blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus), and others.
