Unexpected finding of a new Equus species (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) belonging to a supposedly extinct subgenus in late Pleistocene deposits of Khakassia (southwestern Siberia)

A new species of Equus, E. (Sussemionus) ovodovi n. sp., was excavated in Proskuriakova Cave (Khakassia, Southwestern Siberia) in deposits carbon dated at 40 000 BP. This slender, middle-sized equid was first considered as related to E. hydruntinus Stehlin & Graziosi, 1935 but biomolecular analyses showed that it actually belonged to a group hitherto unknown of Equus. Indeed, a more detailed study of the fossils evidenced features characteristic of the subgenus Sussemionus Eisenmann, 2010, common during the middle Pleistocene but supposed extinct after. The current article describes this new species.