Editing Onager (section)

==Taxonomy and evolution==
{{main|Evolution of the horse#Modern horses}}
The onager is a member of the [[subgenus]] ''[[Asinus]]'', belonging to the [[Genus (biology)|genus]] ''[[Equus (genus)|Equus]]'' and is classified under the [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Equidae]]. The [[species]] was [[Scientific description|described]] and given its binomial name ''Equus hemionus'' by German zoologist [[Peter Simon Pallas]] in 1775.

The Asiatic wild ass, among Old World equids, existed for more than 4 million years. The oldest divergence of ''Equus'' was the onager followed by the zebras and onwards.<ref name = "WeinstockMolecularPerspective">{{cite journal |last=Weinstock |first=J. |year=2005 |title=Evolution, systematics, and phylogeography of Pleistocene horses in the New World: a molecular perspective |journal=[[PLOS Biology]] |volume=3 |issue=8 |pages=e241 |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0030241 |pmid=15974804 |pmc=1159165 |display-authors=etal |doi-access=free }}</ref> A new species called the [[kiang]] (''E.{{nbsp}}kiang''), a [[Tibet]]an relative, was previously considered to be a subspecies of the onager as ''E.{{nbsp}}hemionus kiang'', but recent molecular studies indicate it to be a distinct species, having diverged from the closest relative of the Mongolian wild ass's ancestor less than 500,000 years ago.<ref name=Ryder1990>{{cite journal |author1=Ryder, O.A. |author2=Chemnick, L.G. |name-list-style=amp |year=1990 |title=Chromosomal and molecular evolution in Asiatic wild asses |journal=Genetica |volume=83 |issue=1 |pages=67–72 |doi=10.1007/BF00774690 |pmid=2090563|s2cid=12351710}}</ref>
{{clade| style=font-size:100%; line-height:100%
|1={{clade
 |1=[[Syrian wild ass]] (''E. h. hemippus'')
 |2={{clade
  |1=[[Persian onager]] (''E. h. onager'')
  |2={{clade
   |1={{clade
    |1=[[Indian wild ass]] (''E. h. khur'')
    |2=[[Turkmenian kulan]] (''E. h. kulan'') }}
   |2=[[Mongolian wild ass]] (''E. h. hemionus'') }}
  }}
 }}
}}

===Subspecies===
Six widely recognized subspecies of the onager include:<ref name="SSC" />
{| class="wikitable collapsed" style="width:100%;"
|- style="background:#115a6c;"
!Subspecies
!Image
!Trinomial authority
!Description
!Range
!Synonyms
|-
|{{ubl|'''[[Mongolian wild ass]]''' (''khulan'')|''E. h. hemionus''|[[Nominate subspecies]]}}
|[[File:Mongools steppepaard (4023673682).jpg|thumb]]
|Pallas, 1775
|
|Northern [[China]], eastern [[Kazakhstan]], [[Mongolia]], and [[Siberia]]
|{{ubl|{{small|''bedfordi'' (Matschie 1911)|''findschi'' (Matschie 1911)|''luteus'' (Matschie 1911)}}}}
|-
|{{ubl|'''[[Turkmenian kulan]]''' (''kulan'')|''E. h. kulan''}}
|[[File:Equus hemionus kulan.JPG|thumb]]
|Groves and Mazák, 1967
|One of the largest subspecies of onager. It is {{cvt|200–250|cm}} long, {{cvt|100–140|cm}} tall at the withers, and weighs {{cvt|200–240|kg}}. Male onagers are larger than the females.
|Northeastern [[Iran]], Northern [[Afghanistan]], western China, Kazakhstan, southern Siberia, [[Tajikistan]], [[Turkmenistan]], [[Ukraine]], Northern [[Mongolia]], and [[Uzbekistan]]
|{{small|''finschi'' (Matschie, 1911)}}
|-
|{{ubl|'''[[Persian onager]]''' (''gur'')|''E. h. onager''}}
|[[File:Onager Asiatischer Wildesel Equus hemionus onager Zoo Augsburg-11.jpg|thumb]]
|Boddaert, 1785
|
|Afghanistan, [[Iran]] and [[Pakistan]].
|
|-
|{{ubl|'''[[Indian wild ass]]''' (''khur'')|''E. h. khur''}}
|[[File:Equus hemionus khur 1.jpg|thumb]]
|Lesson, 1827
|
|Southern Afghanistan, [[India]], southeast Iran and Pakistan
|{{small|''indicus'' (Sclater, 1862)}}
|-
|{{ubl|'''{{extinct}}[[Syrian wild ass]]''' (''hemippe'')|''E. h. hemippus''}}
|[[File:SyrianWildAss-London Zoo.jpg|thumb]]
|Geoffroy, 1855
|Smallest subspecies, also the smallest form of Equidae
|Western Iran, [[Iraq]], [[Israel]], [[Jordan]], [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Syria]], and [[Turkey]]
|{{small|''syriacus'' (Milne-Edwards, 1869)}}
|-
|{{ubl|'''{{extinct}}[[European ass|European wild ass]]''' (''hydruntine'')|''E. h. hydruntinus''}}
|[[File:Drawing of a hydruntine.jpg|thumb]]
|Regalia, 1907
|Formerly thought to be a distinct species, shown to be a subspecies of Onager by genetic studies in 2017.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Bennett|first1=E. Andrew|last2=Champlot|first2=Sophie|last3=Peters|first3=Joris|last4=Arbuckle|first4=Benjamin S.|last5=Guimaraes|first5=Silvia|last6=Pruvost|first6=Mélanie|last7=Bar-David|first7=Shirli|last8=Davis|first8=Simon J. M.|last9=Gautier|first9=Mathieu|last10=Kaczensky|first10=Petra|last11=Kuehn|first11=Ralph|date=2017-04-19|editor-last=Janke|editor-first=Axel|title=Taming the late Quaternary phylogeography of the Eurasiatic wild ass through ancient and modern DNA|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=12|issue=4|pages=e0174216|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0174216|issn=1932-6203|pmc=5396879|pmid=28422966|bibcode=2017PLoSO..1274216B|doi-access=free}}</ref>
|Europe, Western Asia
|
|-
|}

A sixth possible subspecies, the Gobi khulan (''E.&nbsp;h.&nbsp;luteus'',<ref name=iucn/> also called the ''chigetai''<ref name=mason>{{cite book|editor-last=Porter|editor-first=Valerie|title=Mason's World Dictionary of Livestock Breeds, Types, and Varieties|year=2002|publisher=CABI|location=Wallingford|isbn=0-85199-430-X|edition=5th|author=Ian Lauder Mason}}</ref> or ''dziggetai'') has been proposed, but may be synonymous with ''E.&nbsp;h.&nbsp;hemionus''.

Debates over the taxonomic identity of the onager occurred until 1980. {{As of|2015}}, four living subspecies and one extinct subspecies of the Asiatic wild ass have been recognized. The Persian onager was formerly known as ''Equus onager'', as it was thought to be a distinct species.