Editing Quagga (section)

==Behaviour and ecology==

The quagga was the southernmost distributed plains zebra, mainly living south of the [[Orange River]]. It was a grazer, and its habitat range was restricted to the grasslands and arid interior scrubland of the [[Karoo]] region of [[South Africa]], today forming parts of the provinces of  [[Northern Cape]], [[Eastern Cape]], [[Western Cape]], and the [[Free State (province)|Free State]].<ref name="Walker"/><ref name="Heywood"/> These areas were known for distinctive flora and fauna and high amounts of [[endemism]].<ref name="Kingdon"/><ref name="Moehlmen">{{Cite book |last1=Hack |first1=M. A. |last2=East |first2=R. |last3=Rubenstein |first3=D. I. |year=2002 |contribution=Status and Action Plan for the Plains Zebra (''Equus burchelli'') |editor=Moehlman, P. D. R. |title=Equids: Zebras, Asses, and Horses: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan |publisher=IUCN/SSC Equid Specialist Group |page=44 |isbn=978-2-8317-0647-4}}</ref> Quaggas have been reported gathering into herds of 30–50, and sometimes travelled in a linear fashion.<ref name="Walker"/> They may have been [[sympatric]] with Burchell's zebra between the [[Vaal]] and Orange rivers.<ref name="Hippotigris"/><ref name="Moehlmen" /> This is disputed,<ref name="Hippotigris"/> and there is no evidence that they interbred.<ref name="Moehlmen" /> It could also have shared a small portion of its range with [[Hartmann's mountain zebra]] (''Equus zebra hartmannae'').<ref name="smithsonian" />

[[File:Quagga.jpg|thumb|Painting of a [[stallion]] in [[Louis XVI]]'s menagerie at [[Versailles]] by Nicolas Maréchal, 1793]]

Little is known about the behaviour of quaggas in the wild, and it is sometimes unclear what exact species of zebra is referred to in old reports.<ref name="Walker"/> The only source that unequivocally describes the quagga in the Free State is that of the British military engineer and hunter [[William Cornwallis Harris]].<ref name="Hippotigris"/> His 1840 account reads as follows:

<blockquote>The geographical range of the quagga does not appear to extend to the northward of the river Vaal. The animal was formerly extremely common within the colony; but, vanishing before the strides of civilisation, is now to be found in very limited numbers and on the borders only. Beyond, on those sultry plains which are completely taken possession of by wild beasts, and may with strict propriety be termed the domains of savage nature, it occurs in interminable herds; and, although never intermixing with its more elegant congeners, it is almost invariably to be found ranging with the white-tailed gnu and with the ostrich, for the society of which bird especially it evinces the most singular predilection. Moving slowly across the profile of the ocean-like horizon, uttering a shrill, barking neigh, of which its name forms a correct imitation, long files of quaggas continually remind the early traveller of a rival caravan on its march. Bands of many hundreds are thus frequently seen doing their migration from the dreary and desolate plains of some portion of the interior, which has formed their secluded abode, seeking for those more luxuriant pastures where, during the summer months, various herbs thrust forth their [[leaves]] and flowers to form a green carpet, spangled with hues the most brilliant and diversified.<ref name="CassellNH">Sir Cornwallis Harris, quoted in {{Cite book |last=Duncan |first=F. M. |title=Cassell's natural history |year=1913 |pages=350–351 |url=https://archive.org/stream/cassellsnaturalh00duncrich#page/350/mode/2up |publisher=Cassell |location=London |access-date=22 June 2013}}</ref></blockquote>

[[File:Quagga colt and adult Burchell's zebra.jpg|thumb|left|1777 illustration of a live quagga [[Colt (horse)|colt]] and a bagged adult [[Burchell's zebra]] male, by [[Robert Jacob Gordon]].]]

The practical [[Zebra#Function|function of striping]] in zebras has been debated and it is unclear why the quagga lacked stripes on its hind parts. A [[Crypsis|cryptic]] function for protection from predators (stripes obscure the individual zebra in a herd) and biting flies (which are less attracted to striped objects), as well as various social functions, have been proposed for zebras in general. Differences in hind quarter stripes may have aided [[species recognition]] during stampedes of mixed herds, so that members of one subspecies or species would follow its own kind. It has also been evidence that the zebras developed striping patterns as [[thermoregulation]] to cool themselves down, and that the quagga lost them due to living in a cooler climate,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Larison |first1=B. |last2=Harrigan |first2=R. J. |last3=Thomassen |first3=H. A. |last4=Rubenstein |first4=D. I. |last5=Chan-Golston |first5=A. C. |last6=Li |first6=E. |last7=Smith |first7=T. B. |year=2015 |title=How the zebra got its stripes: a problem with too many solutions |journal=Royal Society Open Science |volume=2 |issue=1 |page=140452 |doi=10.1098/rsos.140452|pmid=26064590 |pmc=4448797 |bibcode=2015RSOS....240452L }}</ref><ref name="fitness" /> although one problem with this is that the mountain zebra lives in similar environments and has a bold striping pattern.<ref name="fitness">{{Cite journal |last1=Ruxton |first1=G. D. |title=The possible fitness benefits of striped coat coloration for zebra |doi=10.1046/j.1365-2907.2002.00108.x |journal=Mammal Review |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=237–244 |year=2002 |bibcode=2002MamRv..32..237R }}</ref> A 2014 study strongly supported the biting-fly hypothesis, and the quagga appears to have lived in areas with lesser amounts of fly activity than other zebras.<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1038/ncomms4535 |pmid=24691390 |title=The function of zebra stripes |journal=Nature Communications |volume=5 |pages=3535 |year=2014 |last1=Caro |first1=T. |author1-link=Tim Caro |last2=Izzo |first2=A. |last3=Reiner |first3=R. C. |last4=Walker |first4=H. |last5=Stankowich |first5=T. |bibcode=2014NatCo...5.3535C|doi-access=free }}</ref>

A 2020 study suggested that the [[sexual dimorphism]] in size, with quagga mares being larger than stallions, could be due to the cold and droughts that affects the Karoo plateau, conditions that were even more severe in prehistoric times, such as during [[ice age]]s (other plains zebras live in warmer areas). Isolation, cold, and aridity could thereby have affected quagga evolution, including coat colour and size dimorphism. Since plains zebra mares are pregnant or lactate for much of their lives, larger size could have been a selective advantage for quagga mares, as they would therefore have more food reserves when food was scarce. Dimorphism and coat colour could also have evolved through [[genetic drift]] due to isolation, but these influences are not mutually exclusive, and could have worked together.<ref name="Dimorphism"/>