Where is the Asiatic wild ass Equus hemionus living now? To what kind of a climate and plant-cover is it adapted?
Professor V. G. Heptner et al. report about the kulan Equus hemionus: "It was living in the USSR – in central Asia -, mainly in the steppes of Kazakhstan of western Siberia, and in the European parts of the Soviet Union. ... In the East, a small strip of its range near the Dzungarian Gate and Lake Zaysan reached into Dzungaria and united with its range in central Asia." (1966:841).
The kulan (Equus hemionus onager). After: V. G. Heptner et al. (1966:837) Fig. 248. The Asiatic wild ass is adapted to the dry steppe and desert-steppe, where the surface of the ground is flat, hard, and dry. It cannot live on soggy, arctic tundra, growing on permafrost.
"The northern limit of the kulan’s range in Kazakhstan and western Siberia cannot be determined exactly, because reports from earlier times are lacking. Moreover, Equus hemionus, in the northern part of its range, was migrating back and forth each year, whereby it moved up north in summer, and far into the south in winter. The length of those migrations reached 500-600 km and more. In certain years, or series of years, it went far up north, far beyond the limits, where it was normally living in summer."
"As a typical animal of the deserts and half-deserts, the kulan usually did not reach the northern limit of the steppes; also in the forest-steppe it was not living. In summer, most of them were moving up to the northern margin of the half-deserts that is roughly spoken – up to 50 degrees north. Not seldom, it was also moving into the steppe zone, mainly into the grass-steppe. We can assume that at the northern limit of its range between the Irtysh and Urals – also when often moving back and forth – in historical times was running a little north of the 52nd degree northern latitude, or along this latitude. At a few places, it also went further up, like, for example, up to the Koktkhetav-Mountains (ca. 54°C). In the west, it was living in the steppes at the eastern foot of the southern foothills of the Ural Mountains. The animals obviously did not move north of the latitude, along which the river Ural was flowing (= ca. 52°N, north of the Caspian Sea)."
"Further east, beyond the Irtysh, the kulans were found north and northeast of the Zaysan, also near Semipalatinsk, in the steppes in front of the Altai, and in the Kulunda steppe. ... Kulans even moved into the Baraba steppe, that is, beyond the 52nd degree northern latitude, probably up to 54°N. In winter, they traveled between the river Ural and the Altai southward beneath 48°N, where the snow-cover is not permanent.
"In the west, the species occupied also the steppes, perhaps even the southern margin of the forest-steppe in the European part of the Soviet Union. The northern limit of its range probably ran at first as far north as in West Kazakhstan, that is, near the latitude, along which the river Ural is flowing – near 51° to 52°N.
"The European part of the Soviet Union is unfavorable for this species, because it is harder to travel south there (because of the seas), than in Kazakhstan. The climate is there quite rough. The kulan has obviously been more common in the eastern parts of the land – between the Ural and the Volga – and in the Ziscaucasian and Calmykian steppes, to which it was better adapted as an animal of the deserts and half-deserts.
"Equus hemionus is living in the plains or hilly deserts, but does prefer the lush meadows in the half-desert, like the grass-mugwort and grass-salt-herb-pastures. ... In Mongolia it is living in summer in the grass-leek half-deserts, in the grass-salt-herb, and in the grass-salt-herb-mugwort-gravel-deserts. In winter it is living in the shrub-deserts and in the feather-grass-herb-steppe. It has lived there in the past also in Kazakhstan, in Transbaikalia, and in Mongolia." - Heptner, V. G. et al. (1966:842, 848).
Onager mare with her foal at a drinking place, in Turan, northern Iran. Across her whole back, to the root of her tail, there is a black line. From: Jasper Nissen, Enzyklopädie der Pferderassen, Europe, Volume 1 (1997)
Where is the Asian wild ass still able to live? Where is it still able to survive?
Prof. V. G. Heptner et al.: "If there is open water in the area, where the group is living, 15-20 km away, they will go there day by day, mostly in the evening or at sunrise. Herds, living dozens of kilometers from the water, are able to get by without water for 2-3 days, but they are only able to live, where they are able to drink regularly. In deserts, without any open wells in summer, no kulans are being found. When running, they may reach speeds of 60-70 km per hour. At this speed, the herd is able to cover 10 km; at 40-50 km per hour, they are able to travel for a very long time (Bannikov, 1955): When chased on horses for a whole day (and while changing horses), they could not be caught, and even on the best horses, it was not possible to chase them down.
"When the snow is up to 30-35 cm deep, they find it hard to move around. ... Thus, during the18th and 19th century, the kulan in the steppe of northern Kazakhstan was wandering from its summer-range – from the area near Akmolinsk and the Baraba-steppe (= SW of Novosibirsk) in August to Bet-Pak-Dala (= NE of Lake Aral). Different groups united into larger herds and went southward, forming huge herds, up to 1,000 strong (Büchner 1905).
"When the snow began to melt, the kulan moved north again, reaching its summer pasture in April. Also from the northern Balkhash-area and the Ili-plain (south of Lake Balkhash), some of the animals went south below the river Tchu (= west and southwest of Lake Balkhash) (Nikol’ski 1887). They were wandering so far, when much snow had fallen in their northern range.
"Right the opposite, we find in the eastern part of their range. In Mongolia, Equus hemionus was wandering in autumn into the steppes of East Mongolia and the Barga of Transbaikalia (Pallas 1771), when their pasture in the half-deserts had become too poor, and when too much snow had fallen. They wandered then north into the steppe, since the different herbs, covering the steppe, were much lusher, than in the half-deserts, and the snow-cover was not as deep.
"Very dangerous to them is slippery ice and snow, deeper than 40 cm. The kulan in Kazakhstan has mainly died out, because of the rough winters in 1879/80 and 1891/2, after which the animals had disappeared from Ustyurt, from Lake Aral, and from the lower part of the river Saryssu and from other places (Sludski 1953). For the same reason, many also perished in 1934 in Turkmenia (Isunin and Krovin 1945). Similar cases are known from Mongolia." - Heptner, V. G. et al. (1966:849-856).
Galloping Djiggetais in the Djungarian Gobi (Mongolia). From: Jasper Nissen, Enzyklopädie der Pferderassen, Europe, Volume 1 (1997)
Asiatic Wild Ass. Climate on Northern Range
In what kind of the climate is the Asiatic wild ass Equus hemionus living not at the northern limit of its range? In what kind of a climate has it lived there until quite recently, before man killed it off?
East Europe, 52°N, 50°E: 7°C mean annual air temperature. No permafrost. 120 days above 10°C. 130 days with a snow-cover. 35-37 kcal cm² annual net radiation at earth’s surface. 700 mm potential evapotranspiration (P.E.), 3000° 10°C.ts per year. 24°C July temperature.
West and Central Siberia, 52°N, 60-80°E: 4°C mean annual air temperature. No permafrost. 130 days above 10°C. 140 days with snow cover 35 kcal cm² mean annual net radiation at earth’s surface. 600 mm P.E. 2400° 10°C.ts, 22°C July temperature.
East Siberia, 52°N, 120°E: 0°C mean annual air temperature. No permafrost. 120 days above 10°C. 160 days with snow cover. 35 kcal cm² mean annual net radiation at earth’s surface. 600 mm P.E., 2000° 10°C.ts. 18°C July temperature.
East Siberia, south of Lake Baikal, 45°N, 100-110°E: 8°C mean annual air temperature. No permafrost. 120 days above 10°C. 160 days with snow cover. 35 kcal cm² mean annual net radiation at earth’s surface. 800 mm P.E., 2000° 10°C.ts., 20°C July temperature.
Djiggetai in the Djungarian Gobi (Mongolia). From: Jasper Nissen, Enzyklopädie der Pferderassen, Europe, Volume 1 (1997)
Where has it lived in the past?
Where has the kulan grazed together with the mammoth? How far north have they found its remains? To what kind of climate and plant-cover is the half-ass adapted? What have scientists found out about this?
R.-D. Kahlke writes: "On the territory of the Russian Federation, the kulan has been proved since the Middle Pleistocene. ... Proved has been the presence of the kulan from SE Europe across the area of the Black Sea and the northern Prikaski area, in central Asia, the Barabinsk steppe (southern W.-Siberia), and the Yenissey till S.-Yakutia, and in N.- and N.E. China. It remains unclear, whether the fossil forms have been bound stronger to a steppe biotope, than the recent representatives of this kind." (1994:30, 77).
Professor N. K. Vereshchagin says: "The fossil remains of Equus hemionus Pall. are known from Pleistocene and Holocene strata of Eurasia, particularly in steppe and semidesert zones. ... On the basis of contemporary data, the wild ass is undoubtedly a southern species which originated in the Eurasian semidesert and upland steppe." (1967:327, 328).
The American paleontologist Richard G. Klein reports about the remains of Equus hemionus, the Asiatic wild ass, from the late Pleistocene of Siberia (1971:141, 144). They were found at the Upper Ob river, 50-53°N, at the Middle Yenisei River, 54-56°N, and at the Upper Angara River, 52-54°N.
A djiggetai (Asiatic wild ass), one year old, loosing its winter-coat. From G. and H. Denzau, Wildesel (1999).
Djiggetais (Asiatic wild asses) in the Southeast Gobi, Mongolia. Stress at the water hole. The one at the water-hole is keeping the other one behind him with his hooves at a distance. From G. and H. Denzau, Wildesel (1999)
Where the Asiatic wild ass (Equus hemionus) is living now in Eurasia. Within dark line in recent history; areas with dashed lines, where still living today. The black triangles show us, where the Asiatic wild ass has lived during the late Pleistocene, during the time of the woolly mammoth. From central Asia it has ranged all the way up to the shores of the Arctic Sea. In the West on Taimyr Peninsula, near Khatanga. Also on Begichev Island in the delta of the Khatanga River, as I. E. Kuzmina informed me. That is, during the time of the woolly mammoth, on the then dry continental shelf, when sea level was lower. From there eastward across northeastern Siberia to the Kolyma River. Map from: I. E. Kuzmina, Horses of North Eurasia from the Pliocene till the Present Time (1997:151) Fig. 59 (in Russian).
The well-known Russian scientist I. E. Kuzmina, at the Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, in St. Petersburg, is also a member of the Mammoth Committee. In her new book, Horses of North Eurasia from the Pliocene till the Present Time (1997) she reports about her findings about the Bering Land Bridge or Beringia. Her book was edited by Prof. N. K. Vereshchagin. She explains, how the different kinds of horses, half-asses and zebras went from North America to Eurasia:
She states in Table Fig. 7 pp. 18, 19: Horses, half-asses, asses, and zebras went from about 3.5 to 2.5 million years ago from North America (Alaska) across the Bering Land Bridge to eastern Siberia. From there they spread out across the Asian continent to Europe and Africa. – From about 1.7 to 1.3 million years ago, horses went from North America (Alaska) through Beringia to East Siberia. From there they then spread out across Eurasia. This is the steppe horse, well known from Eurasia’s late Pleistocene, like Equus przewalskii, E. lenensis, E. lapides and E. gallicus.
Her map Fig. 74 p. 185, shows Eurasia during the Pliocene. It also shows, along which routes the horses, half-asses, asses and zebras came from Alaska (North America) across Beringia to Eastern Siberia. From there they then spread out across Eurasia. They also went to Japan. Japan was then a part of the Asian continent. The continental shelf was during the Pliocene exposed, also north off Siberia’s present arctic coast. North of the New Siberian Islands, the northern coast lay then near 78°N, and further west, namely north of Taimyr Peninsula, it lay near 83°N. Thus, sea level must have been then 100-200 meters lower then now. But there were no continental ice-sheets, wherein this water could have been stored. This also shows us: Sea level has not been 100-200 meters lower than now at all, because during the peak of the Glaciation the water was locked up in the ice. This cannot explain at all, why sea level was lower during the Pliocene and the Pleistocene Period, when there were no ice-sheets in the northern hemisphere.
In the English summary of her book, I. E. Kuzmina says: "Asses and hemiasses, zebras and allohippus horses, parastilid and true horses penetrated from North America through Beringia into Asia, Europe and then to Africa approximately 3 million years ago. Horses that remained in North America belonged mainly to the subgenus Hemionus Stehlin et Graziosi, 1935 and survived there until the beginning of the Holocene. ... After the Beringian Land Bridge disappeared approximately 1.2 million years ago parallel development of horses in America and Eurasia proceeded. ... Dry and warm climate characteristic of Asia in the Pliocene and extensive dry steppes and semideserts to which horses had been well adapted explains their quick dispersal in Eurasia." (1997:205).
E. Kuzmina (1997:151) Fig 59 map, shows, where they have found the remains of the Pleistocene Asian wild ass Equus hemionus in Eurasia. Its remains they have found in northeastern Siberia up to the present Arctic Coast. They were recovered from the lowlands in Eastern Taimyr Peninsula, near the mouth of the Chatanga River, at 74°N. They were found in the lowlands from East Taimyr to the lower Lena River. And from the lower Lena River still further east to the Kolyma lowland, up to about 68°N. That is from 106°W to 162°W, a distance from west to east of about 1,850 km. The Pleistocene remains of Equus hemionus were also found also further south, in the middle part of the Lena River, and its tributaries. And they were found still further south in Central Asia.
Until recent historical times, until 100 to 200 years ago, the Asian wild ass has lived in Eastern Europe and western and central Siberia up to about 52°N. During the Pleistocene, Equus hemionus has grazed on the Mammoth Steppe at least up to 74°N. This means: This half-ass has moved down from the Far North since then by about 22° latitude. That are about 2,400 km. With its small hooves, the Asiatic wild ass is adapted to the hard, flat ground of the dry steppe and steppe-desert. - In what kind of a climate is the zonal dry steppe growing now in southern Siberia?
40 kcal/cm² net radiation at earth’s surface per year. 150-180 days above 10°C. 4 to 8°C mean annual air temperature. There is either no permafrost at all, or far below the surface as a relict. 800-1000 mm potential evapotranspiration. 3,000-4,000° temperature sum with days above 10°C. 24°C July temperature.
From this I do conclude: When the Asiatic wild ass Equus hemionus was living in northeastern Siberia, up to at least 74°N, it has lived there in a zonal dry steppe. This zonal dry steppe was growing up there in a climate, as we do find it now in Central Asia’s zonal steppe, some 2,400 km further south. This is also proved by the other kinds of animals and plants, adapted to the dry steppe. The ice-age theory, wherein the woolly mammoth is adapted to severe arctic cold, is not based on scientific fact. It is only science fiction.