page_title: Plains zebra
section_title: Subspecies
hierarchical_section_title: Plains zebra / Taxonomy / Subspecies
caption_attribution_description: English: Maneless zebra (Equus quagga borensis) at Kidepo Valley National Park, Uganda
context_page_description: The plains zebra, also known as the common zebra, is the most common and geographically widespread species of zebra. Its range is fragmented, but spans much of southern and eastern Africa south of the Sahara. Six subspecies have been recognised including the extinct quagga which was thought to be a separate species. However, more recent research supports variations in zebra populations being clines rather than subspecies.
  The plains zebra is intermediate in size between the larger Grévy's zebra and the smaller mountain zebra; and tends to have broader stripes than both. Great variation in coat patterns exists between clines and individuals. The plain zebra's habitat is generally, but not exclusively, treeless grasslands and savanna woodlands, both tropical and temperate. They generally avoid desert, dense rainforest, and permanent wetlands. Zebras are preyed upon by lions and spotted hyenas and to a lesser extent crocodiles, cheetahs, and African wild dogs. The plains zebra is a highly social species, forming harems with a single stallion, several mares, and their recent offspring; bachelor groups also form. Groups may come together to form herds.
context_section_description: In their 2004 study of cranial and pelage differences between specimens, Groves and Bell found support for the division of the plains zebra into six subspecies (listed here from northernmost living to southern):
  Maneless zebra Equus quagga borensis – Lönnberg, 1921
  Grant's zebra, Equus quagga boehmi – Matschie, 1892
  Crawshay's zebra, Equus quagga crawshayi – De Winton, 1896
  Chapman's zebra, Equus quagga chapmani – Layard, 1865
  Burchell's zebra, Equus quagga burchellii – Gray, 1824
  Quagga, †Equus quagga quagga – Boddaert, 1785
  Sometimes another subspecies is distinguished: 
  Selous' zebra, Equus quagga selousi – Pocock 1897
  Burchell's zebra was thought to have been hunted to extinction. However, Groves and Bell concluded that "the extinct true Burchell's zebra is a phantom". Careful study of the original zebra populations in Zululand and Swaziland, and of skins harvested on game farms in Zululand and Natal, has revealed that a certain small proportion shows similarity to what now is regarded as typical burchellii. The type localities of the subspecies Equus quagga burchellii and Equus quagga antiquorum are so close to each other that the two are in fact one, and that, therefore, the older of the two names should take precedence over the younger. They suggested that the correct name for the subspecies must be burchellii, not antiquorum.
  A 2005 genetic study confirmed the quagga being the same species as the plains zebra. It showed that the quagga had little genetic diversity, and that it diverged from the other plains zebra subspecies only 120,000–290,000 years ago, during the Pleistocene, and possibly the penultimate glacial maximum. Its distinct coat pattern perhaps evolved rapidly because of geographical isolation and/or adaptation to a drier environment. In addition, plains zebra subspecies tend to have less striping the further south they live, and the quagga was the most southern-living of them all.
  A 2018 DNA study found no evidence for a subspecies structure in plains zebras, but instead observed a north–south genetic continuum. Modern plains zebra populations appear to have originated from southern Africa around 370,000 years ago with plains zebras in Uganda, the most northern population, being the most distinct.
caption: Maneless zebras at Kidepo Valley National Park, Uganda. Ugandan zebras are the most divergent of the extant populations.
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