Algerian wild ass
The Atlas wild ass (Equus africanus atlanticus ), also known as Algerian wild ass, is a purported extinct subspecies of the African wild ass that was once found across North Africa and parts of the Sahara.
It was last represented in a villa mural ca. 300 AD in Bona, Algeria, and may have become extinct as a result of Roman sport hunting.
Ancient art consistently depicts the African wild asses of North Africa as similar to, but darker colored than, the Nubian and Somali wild ass subspecies. The general color was gray, with marked black and white stripes on the legs, and a black shoulder cross (sometimes doubled). In comparison, the Nubian wild ass is gray with shoulder cross but no stripes, and the Somali wild ass is sandy with black stripes, but no shoulder cross. One or both features appear occasionally in domestic donkeys. Wild and primitive domestic asses are indistinguisable from their bones, which complicates their identification in archaeological sites.
The Atlas wild ass was found in the region around the Atlas Mountains, across modern day Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. It might also have occurred in rocky areas of the Saharan Desert, but not in sands which are avoided by wild asses. However, the 20th century reports of wild asses from northern Chad and the Hoggar Massif in the central Sahara are doubtful.
