Filomino

Equus asinus

General Characteristics
Body Length: 200 cm
Shoulder Height: 125-145 cm
Tail Length: 42 cm
Weight: 275 kg
Ass - The correct term for the animal commonly known as the donkey, burro or jackstock. The term comes from the original Latin term, "Asinus". The scientific term for these animals is "equus asinus". The term fell into disrepute through confusion with the indelicate term "arse" meaning the human backside. The difference between asses and horses is a species difference, different species but closely related and able to interbreed to a degree.
Jack - The term used for the male of the ass species. Thus, the often term used term jackass. Jacks are called stallions in the United Kingdom, but stallion is reserved for horse and zebra males in the United States.
Jennet (pronounced JEN-et) - The correct term for the female of the species. The more commonly used term is jenny, which is considered correct in non-technical use. The term mare is used for horse and zebra females in the United States.
Burro - A word taken directly from Spain. It means the common, everyday working donkey found in Spain and Mexico. It came into usage in the Western United States. As a general rule, the term burro is heard west of the Mississippi and the term donkey, east of the Mississippi.
Wild Burro - These are the feral (desended from domestic stock that has gone wild over generations) asses which run wild in the western part of the United States.
Donkey - Taken from England, the derivation is uncertain, but most authorities think that the name comes from "dun" (the usual color) and the suffix "ky," meaning small. Thus, "a little dun animal." In earlier England the word Ass was taken from the Roman word for animal. "Donkey" is a relatively recent variation of the species name.
Jack Stock - The term for plural of the American Mammoth Jack and Jennet. These animals are properly termed Asses and not donkeys, and never called burros. They are one of the largest of the types of the ass species.
Gelding Donkey - The proper term for a gelded (castrated) male ass. An informal term is "John" (a modified form of Jack).
Spanish Jack or Spanish Donkey - ADMS (American Donkey and Mule Society) does not accept this terminology unless the animal has written documentation of importation of itself or immediate ancestors from Spain. This holds for animals which people call by the breed names of foreign breeds such as Catalonian, Maltese and Andalusian. These breeds as pure strains are rare even in Spain, and are non-existent in the United States. The term Spanish Donkey is found incommon usage meaning a large standard donkey. The ancestry of most of the donkeys in the U.S. is predominately a blend of all of the Spanish breeds. In any case, the term is inexact and is not good usage.
Sire - The male parent of an equine.
Dam - The female parent of an equine.
Stud - The breeding male of a species, or, the breeding farm housing a stud (stallion or Jack).
Get - The offspring of a Jack or Stallion. The male is said to "get" the offspring on the female, this the collective term get for his young.
Produce - The offspring of a Jennet or Mare. The females produce the young. The term "out of" is literal in the sense that the foal was born out of that female.
Mule Jack - Not a mule, but a jackass used to breed mares to obtain mules.
Jennet Jack - A jackass used to breed to Jennets (the female of the species) in order to produce more donkeys. A good breeder uses only the finest of Jacks for this purpose.
The Cross - Refers to a line darker hair darting at the tip of the head and running to the end of the tail. This is crossed at the withers with another darker line of hair (the shoulder stripe) forming a cross. The shoulder stripe may be long, very short, thin, wide, fading or dashed, but nearly all donkeys have some form of this marking. The exceptions are the Mammoth donkeys, which have been bred away from this marking, and true black animals where the cross is not visible. Even spotted animals or white-appearing donkeys may have partial or faint crosses. This trait is very dominant.
Markings - In addition to the cross, many donkeys have dark markings on the ears, as "garters" around the legs or as "zippers" down the inside forelegs. Small black spots on the sides of the throat, called collar buttons, may also be seen, as well as a dark line (ventral stripe) down the belly.
White Points - When registering donkeys, white points are so universally normal that only the absence of them is to be noted. It is normal for a donkey to have short, fine, light colored hair on the muzzle, ringing the eyes, on the belly and inside the legs. A donkey that does not have these points is seen as unusual but are not too uncommon.
Mule Markings - The donkey usually passes the light points on to a mule, although they may appear brown or tan instead of off-white or pale gray like in the donkey. Many mules will have crosses and leg stripes as well. Thecrosses of mules usually differ from those on donkeys, with the shoulder stripe being very wide, or faded, as in shadow.