Kingdom Animalia Class Mammalia Family Equidae Scientific name Equus lambei | Phylum Chordata Order Perissodactyla Genus Equus Rank Species | |
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Similar Equus scotti, Equus francisci, Equus conversidens, Equus namadicus, Equus occidentalis | ||
Equus lambei (common names include Yukon horse, and Yukon wild horse) is an extinct species of the genus Equus. Equus lambei ranged across North America until approximately 10,000 years ago. It probably was much like the extinct Tarpan and the living Przewalski's Horse of today. A partial carcass of Equus lambei is on display at the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre in Whitehorse, Yukon.[1]
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Classification
Equus lambei is close relative of the modern wild horse including the domestic horse.
Natural history
Along with steppe bison (Bison priscus), woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) and caribou (Rangifer tarandus), Equus lambei was one of the most common ice-age species known from steppe-like grasslands of Eastern Beringia. This species is known from numerous teeth and bones, and one partial carcass discovered in 1993, that yielded a radiocarbon date of 26,280 ± 210 years BP. The carcass consisted of a large part of the hide, a few tailbones, one lower leg, and some intestine. The hide retained some long blondish mane and tail hairs, coarse whitish upper body hairs, and dark brown hairs on the lower leg. Large numbers of teeth of this species have been found in archaeological sites in the region.