Donkey Donkey The donkey or ass ("Equus africanus asinus") is a domesticated member of the horse family, Equidae. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African wild ass, "E. africanus". The donkey has been used as a working animal for at least 5000 years. There are more than 40 million donkeys in the world, mostly in underdeveloped countries, where they are used principally as draught or pack animals. Working donkeys are often associated with those living at or below subsistence levels. Small numbers of donkeys are kept for breeding or as pets in developed countries. A male donkey or ass
Australopithecus africanus Little Foot is currently classified as (lumped into) "Australopithecus africanus"; Clarke suggests that Little Foot doesn't belong to either species "afarensis" or "africanus," but to a unique "Australopithecus" species found at Makapansgat and Sterkfontein (and named "Australopithecus prometheus" by Raymond Dart). Analysis made in 2015 by a new radioisotopic technique dated the Little Foot specimen to about 3.7 mya. "A. africanus" was similar in many traits to "A. afarensis", a bipedal hominin with arms slightly longer than the legs (a physical trait also found in chimpanzees). It has slightly human-like, advanced cranial features (seen in the crania of Mrs. Ples