User:Menah the Great/sandbox

Soviet Union 1988

pp. 1037 - 1057

Introduction

2. TARPAN™ Equus (Equus) przewalskii Poljakov, 1881

1758.Equus caballus. Linnaeus. Syst. Naturae, 10th ed., p. 73. Southern Sweden (domestic horse).

This name is usually applied to wild horses of the European steppes of the Soviet Union, 1.e., to tarpan proper (form gmelini) but there is ample justification for extending it to the species as a whole.

The interpretation of the scope and structure of the species adopted here differs from that usually recognized, including some contemporary zoologists. For a justification of this viewpoint, an analysis and proof of several related aspects, and also establishment of synonyms, nomenclature, and type localities—see Heptner, 1955.

The introduction into nomenclature of this name and the next with a reference to Zoographia by Pallas (Antonius, 1912; Lydekker, 1916; and others) as the oldest names of wild horses is based on some misunderstanding. In Pallas’ works on horses these names do not occur at all. Pallas in Zoographia used the term ‘“‘Equiferus” or “Еаи вет,” but invariably as a single word and in a purely descriptive and not nomenclatural context (see sections on horses and kulans in Zoographia).

*'Domestic horses, even pure-bred forms, readily turn wild. Such feral horses were sometimes very abundant; troops or even whole populations of them have existed at different times in different countries. In the Soviet Union small numbers of wild horses lived in the deserts on the right bank of the Murgab and on Agrakhan spit (peninsula) on the western bank of the Caspian Sea (Heptner, 1955). Large troops of so-called mustangs once lived in the steppes of North and South America, while wild horses are seen even now in Europe in the Gascogne and Camargue. None of these horses is related to the tarpan. Feralization does not impart a tarpan-like resemblance.

1828. Equus sylvestris. de Brinken. Memoire deéscriptif sur la foret Imperiale de Bialovieza en Lithuanie. Varsovie. Belovezh Forest. Nomen nudum?

1881. Equus przewalskit. 1.S. Polyakov. Izvestiya Imp. Russk. Geogr. Obshch., vol. 17, р. 1, tabs. 1 and 2. Khanobo (Kanabo) sands about 250 km southeast of Zaisan post (roughly 46° N lat. south of Lake Ulyungur); central Dzhungaria.

1912.Equus gmelini. Antonius. Naturwiss. Wochenschrift, vol. 27, no. 33, p. 516. Zagradov steppe on the right bank of Dneper in its lowermost courses, near Kherson.

1920.Equus gmelini Ant. subspecies szlvatica. Vetulani. Bull. Intern. de ГАс. des Sc. et des Lettres, ser. В, no. 7B, 1927, р. 857. Belovezh Forest.

1951. Equus tarpan. Pidoplichko. О lednikovom periode (The Glacial Period), vol. 2, p. 233. Nomen nudum.

1811.Equus ferus. Pallas. Zoographia Rosso-Asiatica (Zoography of Asiatic Russia). Auctorum. Errorim!””

1811.Едии5 equiferus. Pallas. Zoographia Rosso-Asiatica. Auctorum. Errorim!”” (V.H.)

In spite of the references of several authors and naturalists of the Ancient and Middle Ages, and recent travelers, the existence of true wild horses in the last century in Europe and western Asia was sometimes questioned. It was thought that the southern Russian tarpan and certain other forms of horses simply represented domestic animals turned feral. This was even asserted of the wild horses of Mongolia and Dzhungaria (Przewalski’s horse).”’

Over a period of seventy to eighty years, and even partly in the last decade, enough data and material have been gathered which permit one to assert that true wild horses did survive in some parts of Europe and western Asia in the historic period and at some places even in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. These animals, especially in the last century, sometimes hybridized with domestic horses. At some places hybridization was apparently reflected in their external appearance. However, the wild nature of tarpan as a species, irrespective of the pure bloodedness or lack of it, cannot now be disputed (Кбрреп, 1896; Heptner, 1955). In spite of the near total absence of museum material on tarpans of Europe and western Asia (osteological material is available for only two individuals), the outward appearance and other features of this animal are not difficult to conjecture. (V.H.)

Diagnosis

Large-sized animals. Tail covered with long hair throughout its length, commencing from base or only slightly short of it. Color dark gray (mouse) or yellow (roan) with dark-colored stripe on back; transverse bands in scapular area absent. Ears short. Auditory meatus short and not visible when skull viewed from dorsal side. (V.H.)

Description

In outward appearance the tarpan is a wholly typical horse: build compact and stocky, chest broad, back straight, ribs steep, and rear straight. Head large and heavy, muzzle short, and lower jaw posteriorly broadened; forehead straight or slightly concave, rarely slightly convex; ears small and upright; nostrils broad; and orbital section fairly broad. Neck short and thick. Shoulders (1.e., shoulder blades and humerus) highly developed and straight. Legs thin and strong, with small high hooves. Chestnuts on front legs invariably present but usually weakly developed; often absent on rear legs. Tail, compared to that of domestic horses, relatively short and less hairy; section of tail stump covered with short hair relatively large; sometimes tail fairly long. Mane short and erect; forelock absent; elongated hair on withers. absent; long dense hairs present on rear of lower jaw.

General color yellow or rusty-yellow, more light-colored (whitish) or gray along lower surface, much lighter downward, and sometimes a fairly uniform gray. Mane and tail wholly black or blackish-brown or lateral hair of mane same color as neck. Legs below knee black or blackish-brown. Sometimes (in some lightcolored animals) only hooves dark; sometimes faint, very darkcolored band seen against dark background of forelegs. Unbroken black, blackish-brown, or rusty-brown stripe extends down middle of back, from mane to the tail; sometimes stripe discontinuous and seen only on rear of body (croup) or even absent (rarely). Tip of muzzle light (white), or slightly lighter than rest of head, or the same color as head.

Summer hair short and close-fitting, while winter hair fairly long, dense, and sometimes even curly on the back. Winter coat a dirtier color than summer coat. Apparently the opposite occurs in some cases, with the winter coat being lighter, sometimes ashen, and even almost white exceptionally. Foals are similar to adults in coloration or (in dark gray tarpan) dark gray with a rusty tinge. Older animals are apparently somewhat lighter in color than juveniles.

In size tarpan are smaller than domestic horses of small breeds or equal to them. Height at withers 115 to 146 cm and basal skull length 445 to 495 mm.

In general build and appearance the tarpan is a handsome, strong, mobile, and energetic wild animal; its vision is “‘quick and lively’, the eyes even “‘fiery’’. It is very high-strung and vicious when frightened. Attempts at domestication or captivity met with no success.

The above description applies to the typical tarpan of eastern (Central Asiatic) and western forms. On a level with the western (Kazakh and European) tarpan there occur some variant forms. The characteristics of some, at least in the last century, are associated with some admixture of the blood of domestic horses. In the western tarpan (west of Volga) this is reflected in some insignificant color differences,’ lengthening of tail and its transformation into a dense structure, lengthening and transformation of mane into a short, hanging structure, and the presence of a fairly long forelock.

The color of steppe tarpans, at least of southern Russian animals, even in the last century was very specific and stable. Evidently, mane characteristics are most variable (its elongation and the appearance of forelock). (V.H.)

Geographic Distribution

The range (reconstructed) covers Europe except in the north; the steppes and partly forest-steppes of the European part of the USSR; forest-steppes, steppes, and semideserts of western Siberia, Kazakhstan, and Middle Asia; and the plains of Central Asia.

The range in the Soviet Union covers steppe and semidesert regions

Lengthening of the mane is insignificant. The semisuspended mane on both sides of the neck would reach only one-third of the thickness of the latter or less (Heptner, 1934). The forelock is not a special formation and represents only the foremost, forward hanging portion of an elongated mane. The formation of the forelock and lengthening of the mane invariably occur as parallel developments. This has been noticed only in the southern Russian tarpan (gmelini); the mane of Dzhungarian tarpan (przewalskii) is erect.

There are references (only one original, that of Gmelin) indicating that sometimes the ears are slightly longer and droop. The dubiousness of this feature aside (see section on kulan), there is no justification to see in it the effects of hybridization of tarpan with kulan, as is sometimes suggested. All available information about kulan and tarpan runs against this concept and, moreover, the very occurrence of kulan in the southern Russian steppes, at least in the period for which the information on tarpan is available (eighteenth century), cannot be regarded as strictly proved. Another result of hybridization sometimes put forward is the occurrence of some light, yellow-colored tarpan among dark gray tarpans; the explanation for this phenomenon is different (see below).

Even forms which lived in the first decade of the present century exhibited fairly typical coloration (Heptner, 1934).

Outside the Soviet Union tarpan were quite common over much of western Europe. Commencing from ancient times up to the nineteenth century one finds mention of their presence in Poland, several regions of Germany, including East Germany, Denmark and the Danish islands, Belgium, France, the Iberian Peninsula, Switzerland, and several other countries.

Judging from Assyrian bas reliefs (some seventh cent., BC. [szc]; Heck, 1930; Rumyantsev, 1936; and others), wild horses were present in southwestern Asia, particularly in Mesopotamia. What they looked like and how their distribution related to the above-described areas are not known. In the prehistoric period (probably even in the period close to the present), tarpan survived in the British Isles and in northwestern Africa. (V.H.)

Geographic Variation

A widely prevalent view holds that the European steppe and forest tarpan (forms gmelini and silvatica) and the Dzhungarian tarpan or Przewalski’s horse (form przewalskii) represent different species. The former was usually given the name caballus or gmelini, sometimes ferus, and the latter przewalski. Thus European wild horses were considered members of the same species as domestic horse and Przewalski’s horse separated from them insofar as taxonomy is concerned. This view has been endorsed by some authors of recent monographs (Gromova, 1949). At the same time, as early as 1916 (Lydekker), it has been suggested that the Central Asiatic form be regarded only as a subspecies of E. caballus. New arguments have more recently been published in support of combining European and Asiatic wild horses in a common species (Heptner, 1955). The species name of this group should be Equus przewalskii Poljakov, 1881 (see footnote No. 17 on p. 540 and Heptner, 1955). This is the prevailing viewpoint among Soviet taxonomists.

Three subspecies of wild horses may be recognized under the species E. przewalskii.

1. Southern Russian steppe tarpan, Е. р. gmelini Antonius, 10.

Relatively large-sized. Color dark gray, with a black mane and tail, and invariably with a well-developed, fairly extensive, black stripe down the entire back (from mane to tail stump). Lower half of legs (up to knee joint) black. Color of young rust-tinged. Winter coat long and dense, slightly wavy along the back, and dirtier looking than summer coat; evidently, some fading of color occurs in winter (ash color results). Facial part (“muzzle") of skull relatively short, molar teeth relatively small, and frontal profile slightly concave.

Found in the steppes and forest-steppes of the European part of the USSR from the Prut in the east roughly to the Ural River, and probably to the Volga (see below).

Occurrence outside the USSR not known. Possibly occurred farther west (Rumania). However, it is not possible just now to reconstruct which form or forms of tarpan lived in central and western Europe. Probably steppe tarpan had a smaller distribution in the west and those living there were more likely members of the following subspecies (see below).

This subspecies became totally extinct in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The last of these animals survived (often in captivity) up to the 1870’s and 1880’s and the very last of them on a stud farm as late as 1914 to 1918 (Heptner, 1934). Attempts have been made to ‘reconstruct’ this form. The general appearance of the animal has been reproduced rather well but genetically this form has nothing in common with the true steppe tarpan (see later).

2. Forest tarpan, Е. р. silvaticus Vetulani, 1928 (an sylvestris de Brinken, 1828?).

This subspecies is very similar to the preceding one but slightly smaller and of a weaker build; also fading of color is more intense in winter.

Found in western and southwestern Belorussia, Lithuania, and adjoining territories.

Outside the USSR this tarpan survived in Poland, Germany, and evidently some other parts of western Europe.

This horse, unlike all other forms, survived mostly in the forest environment during the final phase of its existence, probably even in the large forest massifs of Poland, Lithuania, and the territory of former Prussia, where it survived the longest. Evidently this tarpan was displaced into large forests as a result of persecution by man. The forest tarpan, at least in the form in which it survived until the last century, could probably be considered a stunted form of steppe tarpan.

In central Europe the forest tarpan disappeared in the early Middle Ages or even earlier, while it survived in the east up to the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. The rest of the free-living forest tarpans survived until the end of the eighteenth century in Belovezh Forest. The last of them were killed at the beginning of the nineteenth century (1814—Kaliningrad district).

Attempts have been made to reconstruct this form which is genetically quite justified (see later).

The so-called ‘“Shatilov tarpan” caught in the steppes close to Kherson in 1866, which lived in Moscow Zoological Garden as late as the 1880’s, is usually considered the last of the free tarpans. Actually, the last animal was a mare killed at the end of December, 1879 in the Tavrichesk steppe at a place called “Agaimansk Pod” at Agaiman village, 35 km from Askaniya-Nova (Falz-Fein, 1919; Heptner, 1955).

3. Dzhungarian or eastern tarpan, Przewalski’s horse, Е. р. przewalskit Poljakov, 1881.

Until recently it was thought that this form of wild horse did not occur within the Soviet Union (for example, E. Strautman, 1953) or only reached the USSR along the Chernyi Irtysh (Sedel’nikov, 1910). However, it has recently been shown (Heptner, 1955) that those wild horses which survived in Kazakhstan even in the eighteenth and part of the nineteenth centuries were of this form. There are indications to suggest that tarpan occurring on the Ural and even north of its longitudinal course had the color (“‘roan’’) of the Dzhungarian tarpan described above. However, even darker ones, 1.e., “dark gray’’, were also sighted in that region (Rychkov, 1762).

Information available for the first half of the nineteenth century, pertaining to the steppes east of the Volga at the latitude of Saratov and southward, reveals that tarpan of this region were “‘gray or sandy” in color (Eversmann, 1850). Evidently the area of intergradation (“transition zone’’) of the two races of tarpan, 1.е., Dzhungarian and steppe tarpans, and where the ranges overlapped one another, was the steppes between the Volga and Ural, and directly adjacent to the Ural on the east. There is no doubt that hybrids also occurred there. It is also possible that a special form of tarpan, perhaps of hybrid origin, existed in this region.”

Outside the Soviet Union, on the mainland of Europe, tarpan did not occur, apart from the forest tarpan in Poland. At some places in France (Camargue in the estuary of the Rhone and Gascogne) some lone domestic horses which have turned feral may be seen. In Cornwall (Exmoor), England a small number of very primitive horses live freely and are known as Exmoor ponies. They are sometimes regarded as direct descendants of wild horses and even as a special race of this species (form britannicus Sanson, 1869). (V.H.)

On the Obshchi Syrtu where tarpan extensively hybridized with domestic horses, animals of ‘‘brownish,”’ “‘hazel,’’ and “‘grayish-iron’’ shades were once known; black horses were very rare and skewbald animals absent (Pallas, 1773). Dal’s dictionary may be consulted for color terminology.

Biology

Very little information exists on the biology of tarpan and the available material pertains mainly to the southern Russian tаграп. The south Russian steppes provided a most suitable environment for the survival of tarpan when they were almost unpopulated. This vast region was covered with feather grass, sheep’s fescue, and other steppe grasses, with areas supporting steppe shrubs (wild cherries and others). Small lakes with plentiful reed shoots and colonized by a large number of aquatic birds could be found throughout the steppes. Tarpan were confined around these lakes. They grazed in the steppes and used the lakes as water holes. In winter the animals dug up grass from under the snow. These large uninhabited expanses enabled tarpan to wander extensively during unfavorable conditions (drought, steppe fires, and ice crust formation).

In these years, roughly to the early part of the last century, tarpan were numerous and the activity of man did not seriously affect their life. The animals lived in troops, usually of 10 each and sometimes up to 15, under the leadership of a stallion. The stallion guided and defended his troop. Thus, on going to a water hole the male went ahead first, examined the site, and having made certain of safety, returned to the troop and led it forward. While grazing, the stallion often surveyed the steppes, usually from a mound. The leader took care of his troop and fought other stallions attempting to steal his mares. Severe combats between males were not uncommon. The animals were very agile and capable of sustained running. Even foals fell prey to hunters only after a long and persistent chase and it was almost impossible to catch an adult. The latter was seldom attempted in days gone by. Only occasionally were tarpan lassoed by hunters, using the best of horses and then too in groups or relays, and after a daylong chase. Usually newborn foals were caught after killing or driving away the mother. Tarpan were very cautious animals. They came quite close to a man on foot but ran away a few kilometers from one on horseback.

In olden times, in spring, during the period of rut, old males drove younger rivals out of the troops. The foals during this period lived in small groups or singly. Newborns still unable to move with the herd were usually thrown down on the steppe by the mother and bedded in dense grass in the event of danger.

Tarpan sometimes chased domestic mares, often after a fight with a stallion leading a domestic herd. This occurred at places near horse ranches where horses roamed the steppes throughout the year, or much of it, without supervision. There were also instances when tarpan enticed mares away even from well-protected herds and even separated harnessed mares, thus posing some threat to the owners. An encounter with a tarpan male in the steppes by a rider, especially one on a mare, could sometimes pose serious danger.

The foregoing episodes took place during the last 50 to 100 years of the existence of southern Russian tarpan, when the population was already on the wane. Thereafter reclamation of the steppes proceeded rapidly and livestock husbandry developed quickly.

The habit of stealing mares resulted in the hybridization of tarpan with domestic horses and some believe that this intermixing occurred on a significant scale. Actually, however, it was not so extensive. This is supported by the high constancy of characters of south Russian tarpan until the very last days of its life. Moreover, not a single instance is known of a herd of wild horses led by a domestic stallion. Tarpan herds were invariably led by their own stallions. The presence of a small number of domestic mares could not perceptibly lower the pedigree of the population of wild horses (Heptner, 1955). Only in the last decade of their survival, when tarpan were few in number and formed small groups or roamed as solitary animals, could domestic stallions have mated with wild mares.

On the other hand, mares in foal or mares with foals living in a troop of tarpan, sometimes returned to a troop of domestic horses and thus the blood of tarpan entered domestic horses. Wild stallions, especially the young, often mated with domestic mares, usually after a battle with the domestic stallion. At some places in the south domestic stallions were even shod on the hind legs to give them an advantage in a fight with tarpan. Sometimes captured tarpan were used as sires. The type of domestic horses seen in some localities, for example Kazakhstan, suggests that the admixture of the blood of tarpan occurred on larger scale than is customarily assumed (Heptner, 1955).

The stealing of horses, particularly in the Russian southern steppes, turned farmers against tarpan and they persistently chased them with the sole object of killing them. Another reason for violence against tarpan was that herds consumed hay stacked in the steppes. In winter tarpan herds would completely decimate haystacks. Cultivation of the steppes greatly interfered with the life of these animals since it deprived them of-their natural winter pasture and reduced their wanderings. The animals remained on all trails to haystacks, where ambushes were set up for them. A tarpan, frightened by one, would become stuck in the deep snow of ravines or gorges and fall into the hands of its persecutors. There is no doubt that tarpan did damage crops. But they were also hunted in the east for their meat and hide. Groups of hunters on horseback used to chase and spear them.

The drying of lakes which tarpan regularly visited during pasturing and the general deterioration of water holes also played a role. The animals were compelled to visit wells from which livestock drank and were shot there. Finally, the hunting of tarpan was considered a difficult and dangerous sport in which man could exhibit not only his bravery, but also test the quality of his horses.’’ Tarpan were given no respite anywhere. There is no doubt that tarpan were doomed to death by the economic advancement of the country, brought about by the rapid settlement and cultivation of the steppes in the nineteenth century, especially in the last of tarpan refuges, i.e., the Tavrichek steppes, and after the Crimean War and the eviction from there of the Nogaits [people]. However, direct persecution greatly hastened this process and destroyed the animal at a time when adequate areas of steppe expanses were still available to the species.

Severe winters also took a toll of tarpan. During excessively snowy and frosty winters, with shortages of fodder and frostbound soil conditions, the animals died en masse. In the past, when the animals were generally abundant, the population was restored relatively quickly. But during periods when the populationswas already small, losses became irretrievable and the process of extinction accelerated.

Instances are known of taming tarpan caught young and their use as riding horses. There were also stray reports of taming tarpan caught as adults. In general, however, tarpan were vicious, wild, and indomitable animals. Because of difficulties in stabling them, using them, and the dangers they posed, captured adult tarpan were ultimately simply killed. Halfbreeds, commonly used as riding horses by herdsmen, were characterized by superior strength, endurance, speed, and fiery temper, although more tractable than wild tarpan.

The so-called Statilov tarpan (Kherson) which died in Moscow Zoological Garden in the 1880’s as well as the tarpan described by Heptner (1934) were used for riding.

Economic Importance

Tarpan as a species served as the ancestral stock for the evolution of domestic horse. Steppe and forest-steppe tarpan apparently played the main role in this process, but equally important were the Dzhungarian tarpan, which represent the parent stock of different groups of present-day breeds. Views of animal breeders about the role of different forms of wild horses vary, however, partly as a result of vague ideas of the taxonomy of wild horses. The domestication of horses occurred in the remote prehistoric period but, as mentioned above, tarpan did exert some influence on present-day species even in the last century.

‘Tarpan exerted some adverse influence on the growth of agriculture and animal husbandry in the south and played a small role asa game animal.

With the extinction of steppe and forest tarpans, much of their scientific and aesthetic value has been irretrievably lost. ‘Therefore attempts at “‘reconstructing” one or the other form to produce an animal outwardly resembling the wild European horse are understandable. The reconstruction of forest tarpan initiated by T. Vetulani’’ in Poland (Belovezh Forest) in the 1930’s, began with the selection of the primitive Polish farm horse, which bears some features of forest tarpan, (“‘Polish konik’’), and has proceeded to the building up of external and physiological characteristics.

Forest tarpan not only lived freely in Belovezh Forest in the eighteenth century, but were preserved in fairly large numbers up to the early nineteenth century in the Zamoisk animal nursery in Zamost’ ya (between Kholm and Ravaya Russkaya). They also originated from Belovezh Forest. In 1808 all the animals were dispersed under the care of local farmers, who ultimately domesticated them and put them to work. In this region, even up io the early 1930’s, the tarpan type was well preserved. Naturally some amount of genotype deviation was unavoidable after 120 to 130 years of domestication and free interbreeding with domestic horses. The most typical tarpan-like dark gray horses from the region of Zamost’ya, with dark legs, large head, and some other tarpan features have served as the base stock in ехрепments оп tarpan “regeneration”.

These experiments, in spite of loss (export to Germany) of a large part of the breeding stock during the War years, led to a fairly complete restoration of forest tarpan by the 1940’s and early 1950’s. In fact, these animals even at the end of the 1950’s sported a fairly long mane, luxuriant tail, forelock, etc., but their general appearance was highly ‘“‘tarpan-like’’, tending to form an erect mane, undergoing significant color fading in winter, and exhibiting other characteristics toward the evolution of a more complete tarpan type.

The animals live in total freedom in the forest, survive the winter without refuge, and are given additional food only in exceptional cases. These horses can be considered to some extent genetically related to tarpan and not just phenotypic copies in appearance.” These animals are not only useful as such, but also for hybridization

purposes. There is no disputing their importance as farm animals.

Almost simultaneous with these attempts at reconstructing tarpan, experiments (having in view apparently steppe tarpan) were initiated in central Europe in Berlin (L. Heck) and Munchen (H. Heck) Zoological Gardens. However, the method adopted in Germany differed: extensive hybridization was done using small-sized German farm horses similar to the Polish “konik”’; the latter represents a form of pony, and Dzhungarian tarpan (Przewalski’s horse). Just before the War a herd of these horses was released in Shorfheid Game Farm in central Europe.

The animals in the Berlin Zoological Garden died during World War П. They survived in Munich and at present several dozen are still living and have even acquired tarpan characteristics. In this case, however, no real genetic link with tarpan can be claimed. This is a-special breed of very limited use, i.e., for exhibition in zoological gardens as a live ancestor of domestic horse. The purpose of raising this animal was only that and its value per se unquestionable.

Just a little over several tens of Dzhungarian tarpan still survive in Mongolia and China (see above). There is no doubt that, because of its strength, endurance, and speed, this form has acquired great importance in horse husbandry. Its scientific and aesthetic value is very great. Unfortunately, however, measures suggested for the protection of Przewalski’s horse are very difficult to implement and, in spite of a ban on hunting, this form is doomed to rapid extinction.

In various zoological gardens on January 1, 1958, there were 50 descendants of animals caught and brought to Europe even toward the end of the last and early part of the present century. The largest groups are found in Prague (12 animals), Catskills (USA—10 animals), Whipsnade (England—6 animals), Munich (7 animals), and some stray animals dispersed elsewhere (one to three each; Volf 1958). Evidently these should serve as a stock for conservation and further multiplication of Dzhungarian tarpan. In the Soviet Union there are only four animals (three in Askaniya-Nova and one in the zoological garden at Yerevan) and in Mongolia (Shargalantui) one living in captivity. By November 1, 1960 the total number of animals had increased to 73 (Z. Veselovskii). In 1958 an international project was initiated for the protection of Przewalski’s horse, similar to project proposed for the conservation of wisent. (V.H.)

Kaagan 2000

pp. 25-33...

Recent wild horses (Equus ferus Boddaert, 1785)

Because domestic horses (both captive and free-ranging) are so widespread in modern times, this tends to overshadow the existence of their wild predecessors. Therefore, the current study aims to survey these predecessors and track their 'evolution' through to recent wild and domestic horses. The only two subspecies of true wild horse known to have survived into recent times (i.e 19th and 20th centuries) are the tarpan (Equus ferus ferus Boddaert, 1785) and the Przewalski's horse (Equus ferus przewalskii Poliakov, 1881).

Several authors cite historical references to wild horses. For example, Groves (1994) notes that Herodotus (c. 485-425 BC), the Greek historian and traveller, spoke of "wild white horses" living in what is now eastem Europe, and even the Romans are thought to have mentioned them. However, European 'wild' horses were first formally described by G. S. Gmelin in the late 18th century (Groves, 1994; Clutton-Brock, 1992a). Indeed, Zeuner (1963:311-13) translates Gmelin's description in detail, providing a rare glimpse of these recent supposedly true wild horses, thought to be tarpans, in their wild habitat. In 1769, Gmelin observed small "mouse-coloured" horses with "short, frizzly manes" on the steppe near Bobrovsk. Based mainly on this description, Boddaert (1785) named the tarpan Equus ferus almost one century before the Przewalski's horse was first formally described (Groves, 1994). Therefore, the tarpan is considered the nominate subspecies for the ferus species, making its scientific name Equus ferus ferus. However, it is sometimes known as Equus gmelini Antonius, 1912.

The tarpan (Equus ferus ferus Boddaert, 1785)

The tarpan or extinct eastern European wild (or feral) horse has often been compared to the Przewalski's wild horse The tarpan (the Turkoman word for wild horse (Clutton-Brock, 1992a)) was slightly smaller than the Przewalski's horse, measuring 13 0-145 cm high at the withers, and it is thought to have had a light yet strong build, short head, a broad flat forehead, a ram nose and small pointed ears Its colour is known to have been mouse-grey or ash-grey with a black stripe along its spine, its mane to have been short and erect, and its tail short and covered in long dark hairs (Bokonyi, 1984). Even though remains from various eastern European early Holocene sites have been identified as 'tarpan', Forsten (1988) insists that the recent tarpan "lacks unequivocal fossil documentation". This aside, in the late Holocene, the tarpan is said to have been numerous on the steppes of the Ukraine and most of eastern Europe until extensive hunting led to its extinction in the wild by the end of the 19th century (Bökönyi, 1984; Heptner, 1961). A few animals are known to have survived in captivity in eastern Europe for at least a decade into the 20th century. The most fiunous of these animals are the Sbatiovski or Cherson tarpan and the Dubrowka or Taurian tarpan. After its capture in 1866 on the Zagradoff steppes, north of Crimea, the Cherson tarpan spent several years in Moscow Zoo, and can be seen in a well-known photo of 1884 (see fig. 2.1). The Taurian tarpan (an eight-year-old gelded male), also known as "Tarpan 521", was the last true tarpan, which died in captivity in 1918 and whose skeleton and skull can now be found in the collections of the Zoological Institute, St. Petersburg (Groves, 1994; Nobis, 1971; Willoughby, 1974).

Some authors tend to disagree with the use of the species name ferus because of its confusing derivation. In reference to the last surviving tarpans, Mohr (1971) and others (e.g. Nobis (1971)) consider these animals to have been the descendants of feral domestic horses or at the very least tainted with "domestic blood" (Mohr, 1971). Like Clutton-Brock (1992a), the present author is not wholly convinced about the status of these so-called wild animals described by Gmelin and others. Even he found feral horses and "hybrids" running with the wild tarpan herds (Zeuner, 1963). On the other hand, Heptner (1961) and Heptner et a!. (1961) contend that the tarpans (including even the most recent specimens) were a group homogeneous in colour, size and shape, and thus a "species of genuine wild horse" As will be seen later, the homogeneity of wild horses is an important feature separating wild from domestic animals.

It must be noted that the above taxonomic and phenotypic descriptions of the tarpan correspond only to the so-called plains or steppe tarpan and not to Brincken's and Vetulani's forest tarpan (Equus sylvestris V. Brincken, 1828 and Equus gmelini silvatica Vetulani, 1927, respectively). According to Heptner (1961) and Groves (1991) it was supposedly smaller (i.e. shorter face and limbs) and lived in the forest areas of South-west Byelorussia, Lithuania, western Ukraine, Poland and Germany in the 17th to 19th centuries. To illustrate the confusion surrounding the origins and distribution of both forms of tarpan, Groves (1991) notes that the Taunan tarpan described above had originated from Prussia which suggests that it could be a forest tarpan instead of a steppe one. However, Vetulani (1927) himself classes "Tarpan 521" (i.e. the Taurian tarpan) as a steppe tarpan in morphological comparisons with other horses including the Polish Konik, a modern native pony which he considers to be directly descended from the wild forest form. To complicate matters even further, Janikowski (1942) notes that Vetulani's 'silvalica' is based on this "small domesticated peasant horse" (i.e. the Konik). As will be seen later, this contentious practice of naming wild species/subspecies based on domestic animals is repeated many times in discussions of domestic horse origins. However, despite the confusion between steppe and forest forms, "Tarpan 521" remains the only complete skeleton of a supposedly wild tarpan and this is important when morphological comparisons are made between the tarpan, modern domestics and the Przewalski's horse in the current study (see chapter 5).

Late Pleistocene wild horses

The caballines (Equus ferus)

The naming of wild species and subspecies which did not survive the Pleistocene or at least did not survive into historical times is even more muddled, confusing and complicated. There are at least three species names available for the Late Pleistocene Eurasian wild horses and several subspecies names. The problem arises when authors do not follow nomenclatural rules and use these names interchangeably as will be seen later in this chapter. Nobis (197 1:42) admirably attempts to sort Pleistocene/Holocene wild and early domestic horses taxonomically, chronologically and geographically.

According to several authors (e.g. Nobis, 1971; Forsten, 1988; Eisenmann, 1988), during the Early-Middle Weichselian of western and central Europe, a significant shift took place between the so-called "ancestral form", the medium-large size E. ferus, the name accepted by the present author (also called E. germanicus Nehring,1884 or E. remagenensis Skorkowski,1938 from the type site of Remagen, Germany) and the medium-small size E. ferus (also called E. c. gallicus Prat, 1968 or E. f solutreensis Nobis,1971 from the Gravettian (or "magma de cheval") levels of Solutré, France). The Late Weichselian (i.e. Late Glacial or Magdalenian) saw a further reduction in size to a small form known as E. c. arcelini Guadelli, 1986 from the Late Magdalenian levels of Solutré (also known as E. f solutreensis Nobis,1971 [dwarf form] from the Magdaleman sites of Andernach and Lausmtz, Germany). At this point, it must be noted that another taxonomic name is used widely to designate 'gallicus' horses. According to Forsten (1988), the older synonym of E. spelaeus Owen,1869 was used by Samson (1975) to describe Middle and Late Weichselian horses of Romania. However, this affinity with 'gaiicus' does not seem to agree with the work done in the present study which indicates that Owen's 'spelaeus' of Bruniquel (or Courbet), France (the type materiallsite) is more closely linked, both chronologically and morphologically, to 'arcelini' of Late Glacial north-west Europe.

Size transitions are also thought to have occurred in eastern and south-eastern Europe and Asia, but under different environmentallcimatic conditions and sometimes in unexpected directions. For example, Nobis (1971) notes a size change from the small form, "E. f. ferus" back to the medium form, "E. f. gmelini" at the eastern European Late Pleistocene (c. 25,000 years BP onward) sites of Mezin and Sungir, respectively (see table 2.1) However, he has received criticism (e g. Samson, 1975) for making crucial errors of site-chronology and taxonomy, using 'gmelini' and 'ferus' for taxa which differ in size from the tarpan. Despite these problems, Forsten (1988) praises his recognition of a single small species uniform in size, proportions and morphology in the Late Pleistocene/Holocene as well as his comparison of both eastern and western fossils of this period (see review below).

In her 1993 paper, Forsten highlights the problems associated with delimitation of species and their identification in fossil samples. According to Forsten (1993), "so far, there are no morphological characters which can be used in multivariate analyses which objectively delimit and/or differentiate caballoid species". This serves to complicate the above 'simple' and generalised Late Pleistocene transition within E. ferus from 'germanicus' to 'arcelini' (see table 2.1). Forsten (1993) sees a lack of pattern in morphology geographically which "makes erection of species and subspecies of these horses rather subjective". Conliision and contradiction amongst researchers is evident concerning this separation and naming of species/subspecies. For example, Forsten and Ziegler (1995) note the Early Weichselian (> 30,000 BP) 'germanicus' horses of Villa Seckendorff Germany as "distinct" from smaller forms such as Late Weichselian (< 30,000 BP) 'gaiicus' of Solutré; while on the other hand, Eisenmann (1991) considers 'germanicus' and 'gaiicus' (e.g. from Remagen, Germany and Jaurens/Camiac, France, respectively) to be the same "morphotype" (Eisenmann's Type I), whereas latest Weichselian (< 16,000 BP) 'arcelini' (e.g. from Solutré, France) (Eisenmann's Type II) differs from 'gallicus' in proportions of teeth and metapodials. First, even though Forsten (1993) has criticised the subjective naming of species/subspecies, both she and Eisenmann (above) persist in using these taxonomic 'tags' in their more recent works, albeit with some reservations (e.g. Forsten and Ziegler, 1995). Second, all this evidence suggests that by the latest Pleistocene only one species of caballine horse (i.e Equusferus) was present in northwest Europe. On the other hand, Forsten (1993, 1988) provides rare evidence of sympatry of morphologically similar, large and small forms at Late Pleistocene European sites such as La Adam Cave, Romania. She believes that this is the only "direct" evidence for the presence of multiple species. However, the present author is sceptical about such claims since fossil material from the relevant Late Pleistocene continental European sites is poorly dated (e g. radiometrically) even though the stratigraphy may be sound.

Papal States

Main article: Pope Pius IX and the United States

Early pro-Union stance

Pius IX in 1867

Though historically cordial, relations between the Union and the Papal States became paralyzed at the beginning of the Civil War with the coincidental resignation of American minister John P. Stockton. His designated successor Rufus King also resigned after three months, in order to join the army. The next holder, Alexander Randall, delayed departure to Rome until May 21, 1862, only to resign one month later alleging lack of languages and communication skills. He was succeeded by Richard Blatchford, who arrived on November 15.

Seward was alone among American politicians in his appreciation of the world-reaching soft power of the Pope as leader of the Catholic Church and the value of the city of Rome as source of intelligence on European countries. In November 1861, Seward sent New York City's archbishop John Hughes to London and Paris to cultivate Union sympathies among politicians, journalists, and ecclesiastics. On February 1862, Hughes traveled to Rome, where he preached to the world's clergy who had come to the city for the canonization of the 26 Martyrs of Japan. While presenting himself as a neutral envoy of the whole United States, Hughes justified the North's policies, warned of Confederate expansionism in Latin America, and assured the Cardinal Secretary of State Giacomo Antonelli that the Union could assist the Papacy by refraining from endorsing republicanism in Europe like U. S. citizens had done in the past. This helped push papal opinion toward Union victory being both likely and desirable, due to the Papacy's own preference for established government over rebellion and its view of the United States as a counterweight to anti-papal Great Britain. The Vatican also hoped that the United States would help France move away from Great Britain in the matter of the Roman Question. The Papacy increased its representation in the States with a new consulate in San Francisco and expressed desire to open a permanent embassy in Washington, but the Union failed to reciprocate this interest.

However, the Confederate victories in the summer of 1862 convinced the Papacy that the North could not win militarily, and that Britain and France would mediate a settlement conducting to Southern independence, which in turn would diminish U. S. power to that of a South American republic. To prevent this, the Papacy volunteered itself as a mediator that would work for peace with preservation of the Union. In October 18, pope Pius IX asked Hughes and archbishop Jean-Marie Odin of New Orleans "to use every effort to bring about a peaceful solution of the difficulties between the states", but the Union declined to respond until April 3, 1863 when it publicly rejected all foreign mediation as "unreasonable and inadmissible".

Confederate diplomatic offensive

The papal reaction to the Emancipation Proclamation was negative. Influenced by bishop Martin John Spalding of Louisville, L'Osservatore Romano condemned it as "a desperate and hypocritical war measure which freed no slaves but encouraged a bloody servile rebellion in the South", and the war as "a hopeless and unjust struggle by the North to punish the South". The New York City draft riots and the recruitment of Catholic immigrants as perceived cannon fodder were additional concerns. However, the Union failed to notice this changed attitude and minister Blatchford left for an extended vacation, during which the Confederacy attempted to establish relations with Rome.

In September 1863, the Confederate Army chaplain John B. Bannon persuaded Jefferson Davis to seek recognition from the Papal States as a way to regain the international moral high ground after the Proclamation. Bannon hoped that papal recognition might entice some minor European Catholic nation to follow, and that this would cascade into recognition by France and eventually Great Britain. Ambrose Dudley Mann met the Pope in December and received a letter addressed to the "Illustrious and Honorable President of the Confederate States of America," which Mann claimed equivalent to diplomatic recognition. However, Judah Benjamin told Mann that it was "a mere inferential recognition, unconnected with political action or the regular establishment of diplomatic relations". Benjamin did appreciate the value of the letter in propaganda, and it was publicized by Confederate agents in Europe, Ireland, and the Caribbean, as well as among Southern Catholics, as evidence of the Pope's support for the rebellion.

In response to rumors of papal mediation or recognition, Seward named Rufus King new minister in February 1864, and reassured Antonelli that Washington was both irrevocably committed to the suppression of rebellion and the abolition of slavery. He warned the Vatican to not intervene by claiming that the American people would reject any system of government based on slavery without regard for papal stance; as the Papacy could not expect to accommodate both sides, it would have to choose between the Union's cause of liberty and rule of law, and the Confederacy's slavery and insurrection, which would be detrimental to the Vatican's own image. Seward allowed a diplomatic way out by stating his confidence that the Pope's correspondence with Davis was devoid of political intent, which was confirmed by Antonelli. Still alert, Seward denied King's request for a summer absence, and made preparations to break diplomatically with the Papal States at the first indication of Confederate recognition.

Seward's caution proved correct, because the Confederacy sent the bishop of Charleston, Patrick Neeson Lynch, in early 1864 with a formal proposition to establish diplomatic relations. Lynch and Bannon met clerical and government figures in Ireland and Paris, including the papal nuncio Flavio Chigi. In July 1864 Antonelli and Pius IX received Lynch and Bannon in Rome, not as foreign emissaries but as members of the clergy. The Pope said that it was "clear" that North and South were "different nations", but declined to recognize the Confederate government, and said he would not speak in support of slavery if he was called to mediate in the war. He considered that the North's emancipation in one act was too drastic, but recommended the South to improve the conditions of slaves and work towards gradual emancipation. In Rome, Lynch wrote the pamphlet Letter on domestic slavery in the Confederate States of America, intended to justify Southern slavery to a European secular audience with scientific arguments, not biblical or theological. First published in Italian, the pamphlet was translated to German and French, but not English. At the end of the year, Lynch declared that he had done everything he could for the Southern cause and returned to America.