A new Species of Horse Found in Ethiopia

“Eurygnathohippus woldegabrieli = Giday WoldeGabriel”, I like this latinised form too…but, why do new scientific terms have to be created using the dead latin language?

Two teams of researchers, including a scientist from Case Western Reserve University, have announced the discovery of a new species of fossil horse from 4.4 million-year-old fossil-rich deposits in Ethiopia.

About the size of a small zebra, Eurygnathohippus woldegabrieli—named for geologist Giday WoldeGabriel, who earned his PhD at Case Western Reserve in 1987—had three-toed hooves and grazed the grasslands and shrubby woods in the Afar Region, the scientists say.

They report their findings in the November issue of Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

The horse fills a gap in the evolutionary history of horses but is also important for documenting how old a fossil locality is and in reconstructing habitats of human forebears of the time, said Scott Simpson, professor of anatomy at Case Western Reserve’s School of Medicine, and coauthor of the research. “This horse is one piece of a very complex puzzle that has many, many pieces.”

The researchers found the first E. woldegabrieli teeth and bones in 2001, in the Gona area of the Afar Region. This fossil horse was among the diverse array of animals that lived in the same areas as the ancient human ancestor Ardipithecus ramidus, commonly called Ardi.

“The fossil search team spreads out to survey for fossils in the now arid badlands of the Ethiopian desert.,” Simpson said. “Among the many fossils we found are the two ends of the foreleg bone—the canon—brilliant white and well preserved in the red-tinted earth.”

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Ethiopian Pegasus (Pegasoi Aithiopes)

This was a winged horse from Ethiopia documented by the ancient Greeks. It had the wings of a bird on a horse that had one great horn protruding from its head. It was born from an island in the Red Sea off the coasts of Ethiopia.

Pegasos was tamed by Bellerophon, a Korinthian hero, who rode him into battle against the fire-breathing Khimaira. Later, after the hero attempted to fly to heaven, the gods caused the horse to buck, throwing him back down to earth. Pegasos continued to wing its way to heaven where it took a place in the stables of Zeus.

The horse was also placed amongst the stars as a constellation, whose rising marked the arrival of the warmer weather of spring and seasonal rainstorms. As such he was often named thunderbolt-bearer of Zeus. In the constellation myths, Pegasos (“Springing Forth”) may have represented the blooming of spring whilst Khimaira (“Frosty Air” ?) (perhaps winter-rising Capricorn) was the cold chill of winter.

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*ፈረስ*

እህህህህህ!

ይህ ድንቅ የክቡር ያሬድ ገብረ ሚካኤል ግጥም የወቅቱን ያገራችንን እና የስደተኛውን ሕዝባችንን ተፈታታኝ ሁኔታ ያንጸባርቅልናል።

የጀግና ባለሟል እኔ አቶ ፈረስ፡

ከተፋፋመው ጦር ወስጄ እማደርስ፡

እዘኑልኝ በጣም ሳልለይ አንድ ቀን፡

ወሪሳ ስመታ ስማርክ ጠላትን፡

ይህ ብቻ ነበረ የኔ ሙያ እስካሁን።

ሐሴትም እንደሆን ይጠየቅ ጐበና፤

ምንም እሱ ቢሞት ሥራው ሁሉ አለና።

መቼም በዚህ ዓለም ሁሉ ሲያልቅ አያምር፤

ጋሪ በወገቤ ያናጥር ጀመር።

በጣታቸው እንኳ የማይነኩትን፡

ሸክም አሸከሙኝ የማልችለውን።

ወንዶች እያወቁ የፈረስን ጥቅም፡

ምጣድ አከንባሎ እንደምን ልሸከም።

በተከበርኩበት ወርቅ ተሸልሜ፡

ይኽው እዞራለሁ በርሜል ተሸክሜ።

እንዲህ ወደ ጓላ ይወለዳል ጉድ፡

የወንዶች ባለሟል ሲሸከም ምጣድ።

ጀግና የሆነ ሰው የፈረስ ስም አለው፡

በዛሬውስ ጊዜ ስሜ ጠፋ ምነው።

ወገቤ ተቆርጧል ጋሪ በመጎተት፡

በወንድ ልጅ አምላክ አሳርፉኝ ጥቂት።

ረረስ ሠረገላ ይስባል ቢሏችሁ፡

ትገርፉት ጀመር ወይ ግንድ አሸክማችሁ፡

ጣልያን እስከ መቼም ነፍስህ አይማር፡

እኔ እሰቃያለሁ በተከልከው ግብር፡

የኔማ የፈረስ ሙያዬ አይነገር፡

የወርቅ የበር ዋንጫ የማስገኘውን ክብር፡

ይኸው ዛሬ ጋሪ ስጐትት በምድር፡

ተገጥቧል ጀርባዬ አልሰማም ወይ እግዜር።

ተመክቼ ነበር በጐበዛዝት፡

አሳልፈው ሰጡኝ ጋሪ እንድጐትት፡

እየገፉኝ ያልፋል በኔ ትዳር ገብቶ።

መቼም በኔ ትዳር ምቀኛዬ በዝቷል፡

በምድር በሰማይ ላይ መንገዱን ዘርግቷል።

ክብረት መታገል መቼም አይቀጣ፡

የሚያስታግሥ ነገር ፈጣሪዬ ያምጣ።

ወርቅ መጣብር ነበር የፈረሱ ጌጥ፡

እዩት የዛሬውን በጋሪ ስጐብጥ።

አንድ ሰው ሲቀመጥ ወትሮ በጀርባዬ፡

እቍነጠነጥ ነበር ልሸምጥ ብዬ።

የዚያን ጊዜ ግፉ እንዳይቀር ብድሩ፡

ሦስቱ በኔ ላይ መሳፈር ጀመሩ።

መቼ ይኽ ብቻ ኧረ አያልቅም ጉዱ፡

ጋሪውና ጎማው አይጣል መካበዱ።

በዚያም በዚያም ሆነ ዛሬ የኔ ሸክም፡

ከስድስት ሰዎች ቢበልጥ እንጂ አያንስም።

እነ ኦቶመቢል ሠልጥነው ዛሬም፡

ሊያስወጡኝ ፈለጉ ከዋናው ከተማ።

ዘመናዊው አውቶ ሉክሱ ኦፔልማ፡

እንደ ውሀ ሲፈስ በመላው ከተማ።

የወሩን ጐዳና ባንድ ቀን ገሥግሦ፡

ደከመኝ አይልም የልቡን አድርሶ።

ሲሔድ አይነቀንቅ ድካም አይሰማ፡

ዓለም አይደለም ወይ በሱ መጓዝማ።

ጐማው ሲፈነዳ ቢነዚኑ ዕልቅ ሲል፡

መቼም አይቀርልኝ ፈረስ ጥሩ መባል።

ምንም አራት እግር ቢኖራት መኪና፡

እንደኔም አትፈጥን መንገዱ ካልቀና

ጐማው እስኪነፋ ቤንዚኑ እስኪገኝ፡

ከኔ ራስ አይወርድም ችግር ገፊ ነኝ።

አትጨክንምና አንተ በፈረስ፡

ከዚህ ጭንቅ አድነኝ ቅዱስ ጊዮርጊስ።

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