Zebras belong to the Equidae family, the horse family. There are three extant species of zebras, all limited to Africa. A fourth species, the quagga zebra became extinct in the wild in 1878 and the last captive individual died in 1883.
The plains and mountain zebra have an appearance similar to a horse and the Grevy’s zebra resembles a donkey. Zebras are genetically closer to donkeys than horses, but unlike donkeys and horses, they have never been domesticated.
The black and white striping of zebras is as unique to each individual as are human fingerprints; no two patterns are alike. In most animals the striping pattern is vertical along the head, neck, shoulders, fore quarters, and main body; the pattern becomes horizontal towards the hind quarters. The quagga striping pattern was brown and white in color and limited to the front of the animal; it gradually faded to a brownish color as it moved to towards the hind quarters. The contrast of black and white stripes serves as a form of dazzle camouflage. A potential predator could become confused when trying to focus or chase down one specific individual from a large herd of zebras. This technique was used extensively in camouflaging ships during World War I.
The three depicted species are the Grevy’s zebra (Equus grevyi), the plains zebra (Equus quagga), and the mountain zebra (Equus zebra).
