Ass – Equus asinus

Equus asinusLinnaeus, 1758

Accepterad namn, Mammal Species of the World 2005

Revised by Groves et al. (1966) who with Ansell (1974a:6) recommended use of africanus as specific name, not wishing to use the name asinus because it was based upon domestic populations. Revised also by Schlawe (1980b) who indicated that Asinus africanus Fitzinger was named in 1858, not 1857, and by Groves (1986), who noted that Asinus africanus Fitzinger is a nomen nudum. The apparent senior name for wild asses is then taeniopus (Heuglin, 1861) but Groves (1986) regarded this as a nomen dubium. Gentry et al. (1996) proposed that majority usage be confirmed by adoption of the first available specific name based on a wild population for the wild taxon, in this case deemed to be Equus africanus Heuglin and Fitzinger, 1866, though it has not been demonstrated that most authors have termed the wild ass E. africanus rather than E. asinus. They asked the International Commission on Zoological Nomencla... [truncated]

• Wilson, D and Reeder, D. (eds.) 2005. Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. 3rd ed. -- 2142 pp. Johns Hopkins University Press.