African wild ass descendant. Thus, if one species is recognized, the correct scientific name of the donkey is "E. africanus asinus". The first published name for the African wild ass, "Asinus africanus", Fitzinger, 1858, is a nomen nudum. The name "Equus taeniopus" von Heuglin, 1861 is rejected as indeterminable, as it is based on an animal that cannot be identified and may have been a hybrid between a domestic donkey and a Somali wild ass; the type has not been preserved. The first available name thus becomes "Asinus africanus" von Heuglin & Fitzinger, 1866. A lectotype is designated: a skull of an adult
George Africanus George Africanus George John Scipio Africanus (c. 1763 – 19 May 1834) was a West African former slave who became a successful entrepreneur in Nottingham. The early life of George Africanus is obscure. Calculating his birth year from his burial certificate, he was probably born in 1763. His obituary in the "Nottingham Review" of 30 May 1834 states that he was born in a village in Sierra Leone, which became a British colony in 1787. It is believed that George arrived in England in early 1766. On 31 March 1766, he was baptised George John Scipio Africanus, and described as