Sexual dimorphism of body size in taxidermy specimens of Equus quagga quagga Boddaert (Equidae)

ABSTRACT

Mare taxidermy specimens of quaggas (Equus quagga quagga, an extinct subspecies of the plains zebra that was endemic to South Africa) are significantly longer and marginally taller than stallions – unlike the situation in extant subspecies of plains zebras where the stallions are usually larger than the mares. The possibilities that these differences were due to sampling error, shrinkage of the hides, or distortion during specimen mounting are addressed. It is likely, however, that the taxidermy specimens reflect a sexual dimorphism that existed in quaggas. Differences in body size between mares and stallions might have been an adaptation to their comparatively cold and arid environment, or it might have been caused by genetic drift in a geographically isolated population, or it might have been brought about by a combination of these circumstances.

KEYWORDS:

• Head-body length
• shoulder height
• quaggas
• Equus quagga quagga

Acknowledgements

This research was conducted during a sabbatical leave funded by Brown University. I am grateful to Reinhold Rau (1935–2006) for compiling the measurements on taxidermy specimens, and to the editor of African Natural History (the successor journal to Annals of the South African Museum) for permission to use this data. I thank Dr. Rebecca Boswell for the statistical analyses.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.