Hagerman horse facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hagerman horseTemporal range: Middle Pliocene to Pleistocene
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| Mounted skeleton of a Hagerman horse | |
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Equus
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| Species: |
simplicidens
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The Hagerman horse (Equus simplicidens) was an ancient type of horse that lived in North America millions of years ago. It's also sometimes called the Hagerman zebra or the American zebra. This horse was one of the very first members of the Equus family, which includes all modern horses, donkeys, and zebras. Its fossils were first found in 1928 in Hagerman, Idaho. Today, the Hagerman horse is the official state fossil of Idaho.
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How Was the Hagerman Horse Classified?
In 1930, a scientist named James W. Gidley gave the Hagerman horse its first scientific name: Plesippus shoshonensis. Gidley was a paleontologist from the Smithsonian Institution. He led the first digs where these fossils were found.
Later, other paleontologists studied the fossils more closely. They noticed that the Hagerman horse fossils looked a lot like fossils of a very old horse from Texas. That Texas horse was named Equus simplicidens by Edward Drinker Cope in 1892.
Because the two horses were so similar, scientists decided they were the same species. Since Equus simplicidens was the older name, it was kept. This rule is called the Principle of Priority in science. The Hagerman fossils are some of the oldest and most accepted examples of the Equus group.
How Were Hagerman Horse Fossils Discovered?
In 1928, a cattle rancher named Elmer Cook found some old bones on his land in Hagerman, Idaho. He showed them to Dr. H. T. Stearns, who worked for the United States Geological Survey. Dr. Stearns then passed the bones to Dr. James W. Gidley at the Smithsonian Institution.
Scientists realized these bones belonged to an extinct horse. The area where they were found became known as the Hagerman Horse Quarry. Workers dug up three tons of fossils and sent them to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.
What Did Scientists Find at the Quarry?
Digging for fossils continued into the early 1930s. The Hagerman Horse Quarry grew very large, covering about 5,000 square feet (465 square meters). Its back wall was about 45 feet (14 meters) high.
Scientists found amazing things there. They uncovered five almost complete skeletons. They also found more than 100 skulls and 48 lower jaws. Plus, there were many other separate bones.
Why Were So Many Fossils Found Together?
Finding so many fossils in one spot made scientists curious. Some paleontologists think the quarry area was once a watering hole. Injured, old, or sick animals might have come there for water and then died. Their bones would have piled up over time.
Other scientists have a different idea. They believe an entire herd of these horses might have drowned. Perhaps they tried to cross a flooded river and were swept away. Then, their bodies could have been buried in the soft sand at the bottom of the river.
What Was the Hagerman Horse Like?
The Hagerman horse first appeared about 3.5 million years ago. It was about 110 to 145 centimeters (43 to 57 inches) tall at the shoulder. This is roughly the same size as a modern Arabian horse.
It weighed between 110 and 385 kilograms (243 to 849 pounds). The Hagerman horse was quite stocky, meaning it was strongly built. It had a straight shoulder and a thick neck, much like a zebra. Its skull was short and narrow, similar to a donkey's.
Where Did the Hagerman Horse Live?
These horses likely lived in grasslands and floodplains. This is what the Hagerman area was like between three and four million years ago. Native North American horses, including the Hagerman horse, died out about 10,000 years ago. Many other large animals also disappeared around that time.
