Did you know that the donkey (Equus Africanus asinus) is a descendant of the African wild ass (Equus africanus somaliensis) and that they stem from the same branch on the evolution tree as the zebra – hence the stripy legs on this African wild ass. Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:African_wild_Ass.jpg
So, if the donkey is a descendant of the zebra can a donkey and a zebra mate? They certainly can and their offspring is known as a zonkey. Check out this cute little fellow born in a Mexican zoo in 2014. Image: https://momentsjournal.com/amazing-zebra-donkey-zonkey-baby-naturally-born-mexico-zoo/
A more well-known donkey-cross is the mule – a result of cross breeding between a female horse and male donkey. Since donkeys, horses and zebras are different species of equids, their genetics don’t quite match and even though their offspring are healthy and stronger than their parents, they are usually sterile and unable to reproduce.
And whilst we’re on the topic of hybrids, how about the legendary onocentaur. Half donkey half man, this fantastical creature was mentioned by ancient and medieval authors and it’s likely that the onocentaur’s origins stem from a time when non-riding civilisations first saw men riding equids (probably horses) from a distance. Some ancient authors even believed that the onocentaur was the result of intercourse between two species – human and donkey, hmmm – what vivid imaginations those ancients had!
Image (left): Onocentaur, Manuel Philes, De animalium proprietate (17thC). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Onocentauros_-_Burney_MS_97.png
Image (right): 14th century copy of a 10th century original. Al-Sufi, a Persian astronomer made this illustration of Sagittarius in his Book of Fixed Stars. My photograph from the Strahov Monastery Library, Prague.
The monstrous onocentaur had a double nature: a rational human head and upper torso and a beastly irrational self, embodied in its lower torso and limbs. Medieval authors were more interested in the moral implications of beasts, as animals were considered a mirror of human behaviour. The medieval best seller – the Bestiary (book of beasts) – that taught Christian morality, considered the double nature of the onocentaur to symbolise the hypocrite: someone who speaks of doing good but then does the opposite. Note as well, the similarity of the onocentaur and the astrological Sagittarius.
Our donkey is certainly a versatile beast.