| Yukon horse | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | Equidae |
| Genus: | Equus |
| Species: | †E. lambei |
| Binomial name | |
| †Equus lambei Hay, 1917 |
|
Equus lambei (common names include Yukon horse, and Yukon wild horse[1]) 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 living wild asses of today. A partial carcass of Equus lambei is on display at the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre in Whitehorse, Yukon.[1]
Equus lambei is close relative of the modern horses.[2][3][4]
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.[3][4] 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.[3] 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.[3] Large numbers of teeth of this species have been found in archaeological sites in the region.