Equus ovodovi was slightly larger than the Asiatic wild ass,[1] with one individual from Proskurjakov cave having an estimated body mass of around 196.5 kilograms (433 lb).[2]E. ovodovi can be can be distinguished from wild asses based on its larger and more robust limb bones.[3]
Ecology
Isotopic analysis of specimens from the Holocene of China suggests a preference for C4 plants.[4]
Evolution and extinction
Equus ovodovi has been suggested to be the last surviving member of the subgenus Sussemionus, which first appeared in North America over 2 million years ago, and was formerly present across Afro-Eurasia.[1][5] Some later studies questioned its relationship to the subgenus Sussemionus.[6] Remains are known spanning from southern Western Siberia to Northern China, with the youngest remains dating to around 3900 and 3400 years ago (~1900 and 1400 BC) in Mongolia and Northern China, respectively.[7] Genetic evidence suggests that it was more closely related to zebras and asses than to horses. Initial genetic analysis based on the mitochondrial DNA found the exact relationship to be uncertain, but analysis of the full nuclear genome suggests that zebras and asses are more closely related to each other than either are to E. ovodovi, though there had been gene flow into the Equus ovodovi lineage from both the last common ancesor of zebras and asses and the last common ancestor of zebras, as well as gene flow from the Equus ovodovi lineage into the last common ancestor of asses.[8]
