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zebra
Zebras ( or ) are several species of African equids (horse family) united by their distinctive black and white striped coats. Their stripes come in different patterns, unique to each individual. They are generally social animals that live in small harems to large herds. Unlike their closest relatives, horses and donkeys, zebras have never been truly domesticated.
There are three species of zebras: the plains zebra, the Grévy's zebra and the mountain zebra. The plains zebra and the mountain zebra belong to the subgenus ''Hippotigris'', but Grévy's zebra is the sole species of subgenus ''Dolichohippus''. The latter resembles an ass, to which it is closely related, while the former two are more horse-like. All three belong to the genus ''Equus'', along with other living equids.
The unique stripes of zebras make them one of the animals most familiar to people. They occur in a variety of habitats, such as grasslands, savannas, woodlands, thorny scrublands, mountains, and coastal hills. However, various anthropogenic factors have had a severe impact on zebra populations, in particular hunting for skins and habitat destruction. Grévy's zebra and the mountain zebra are endangered. While plains zebras are much more plentiful, one subspecies, the quagga, became extinct in the late 19th century – though there is currently a plan, called the Quagga Project, that aims to breed zebras that are phenotypically similar to the quagga in a process called breeding back.
==Etymology==
The name "zebra" in English dates back to c.1600, from Italian ''zebra'', perhaps from Portuguese, which in turn is said to be Congolese (as stated in the ''Oxford English Dictionary''). The ''Encarta Dictionary'' says its ultimate origin is uncertain, but perhaps it may come from Latin ''equiferus'' meaning "wild horse"; from ''equus'' ("horse") and ''ferus'' ("wild, untamed"). The word was traditionally pronounced with a long initial vowel, but over the course of the twentieth century, the pronunciation with the short initial vowel became the usual one in the UK and Commonwealth. The pronunciation with a long initial vowel remains standard in the United States.
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
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