Zebras share the genus Equus with horses and asses, the three groups being the only living members of the family Equidae.

Zebras inhabit eastern and southern Africa and can be found in a variety of habitats such as savannahs, grasslands, woodlands, shrublands, and mountainous areas.

Historically, they have been highly sought by exotic animal collectors, but unlike horses and donkeys, zebras have never been completely domesticated.

Equiferus appears to have entered into Portuguese as ezebro or zebro, which was originally used for a legendary equine in the wilds of the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages.

In 1591, Italian explorer Filippo Pigafetta recorded "zebra" being used to refer to the African animals by Portuguese visitors to the continent.

[21] A 2017 mitochondrial DNA study placed the Eurasian Equus ovodovi and the subgenus Sussemionus lineage as closer to zebras than to asses.

Equus koobiforensis is an early equine basal to zebras found in the Shungura Formation, Ethiopia and the Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, and dated to around 2.3 mya.

[40] Hybridisation has also been recorded between the plains and mountain zebra, though it is possible that these are infertile due to the difference in chromosome numbers between the two species.

Their dentition is adapted for grazing; they have large incisors that clip grass blades and rough molars and premolars well suited for grinding.

[35] Diagnostic traits of the zebra skull include: its relatively small size with a straight dorsal outline, protruding eye sockets, narrower rostrum, less conspicuous postorbital bar, separation of the metaconid and metastylid of the tooth by a V-shaped canal and rounded enamel wall.

[28][29] Plains zebras have been recorded travelling 500 km (310 mi) between Namibia and Botswana, the longest land migration of mammals in Africa.

[29] A zebra's diet is mostly grasses and sedges, but they will opportunistically consume bark, leaves, buds, fruits, and roots.

Plains and mountain zebras live in stable, closed family groups or harems consisting of one stallion, several mares, and their offspring.

Young of both sexes leave their natal groups as they mature; females are usually herded by outside males to become part of their harems.

[29][9] Grazing and drinking areas tend to be separated in these environments and the most dominant males establish territories near watering holes, which attract females with dependent foals and those who simply want a drink, while less dominant males control territories away from water with more vegetation, and only attract mares without foals.

[91][94] Female zebras have five to ten day long oestrous cycles; physical signs include a swollen, everted (inside out) labia and copious flows of urine and mucus.

Upon reaching peak oestrous, mares spread-out their legs, lift their tails and open their mouths when in the presence of a male.

[9] Living in an arid environment, Grévy's zebras have longer nursing intervals and young only begin to drink water three months after birth.

[95] In plains and mountain zebras, foals are cared for mostly by their mothers, but if threatened by pack-hunting hyenas and dogs, the entire group works together to protect all the young.

[90] By contrast, plains zebra stallions are generally intolerant of foals that are not theirs and may practice infanticide and feticide via violence to the pregnant mare.

They are depicted in rock art in Southern Africa dating from 28,000 to 20,000 years ago, though less often than antelope species like eland.

The film Racing Stripes features a captive zebra ostracised from the horses and ends up being ridden by a rebellious girl.

Such art includes Christopher Wood's Zebra and Parachute, Lucian Freud's The Painter's Room and Quince on a Blue Table and the various paintings of Mary Fedden and Sidney Nolan.

In 1261, Sultan Baibars of Egypt established an embassy with Alfonso X of Castile and sent a zebra and other exotic animals as gifts.

[102] When Queen Charlotte received a zebra as a wedding gift in 1762, the animal became a source of fascination for the people of Britain.

It is possible that having evolved under pressure from the many large predators of Africa, including early humans, they became more aggressive, thus making domestication more difficult.

In Rome, zebras are recorded to have pulled chariots during amphitheatre games starting in the reign of Caracalla (198 to 217 AD).

[105] In the late 19th century, the zoologist Walter Rothschild trained some zebras to draw a carriage in England, which he drove to Buckingham Palace to demonstrate that it can be done.

[106] In the early 20th century, German colonial officers in East Africa tried to use zebras for both driving and riding, with limited success.

[113] The last captive quagga, a female in Amsterdam's Natura Artis Magistra zoo, lived there from 9 May 1867 until it died on 12 August 1883.