Of great importance in Mesopotamian culture, kungas were an exceptionally valued and sought-after animal due to their strength and endurance. It is believed that they were used for a variety of tasks, from domestic to military. In fact, there are paintings that show individuals of this species being employed in battle to pull chariots.
For years, the kungas have been a great unknown for researchers of animal evolution. A missing link of which, however, there are vivid traces, preserved from a remote time when they were a species of high importance to the sophisticated Mesopotamian civilization. Records and evidence of their use date back as far as 3,000 years before the birth of Jesus Christ.
To date, the scientific community has raised different theories about the origin of this enigmatic animal. The exceptional characteristics of its structure and composition made it particularly difficult to place it in a specific family tree. This has given rise to numerous speculations in an attempt to explain the peculiarities of the missing beast.
Finally, thanks to a meticulous study of genetic material carried out by researcher E. Andrew Bennett of the Jacques Monod Institute, it has been possible to determine that the kungas are undoubtedly a cross between the domestic donkey and the hemipteran, a type of Syrian donkey that became extinct centuries ago. In addition, kungas are widely considered by the scientific community to be the first hybrid animal bred by humans, which further increases their importance.
This discovery has been the result of an arduous process in which the most sophisticated technical means have been deployed. The researchers compared the genetic material of the remains of several kungas with that of other species in the family to look for similarities and to establish a timeline that would answer the question of their remote origin. The results have been more than satisfactory.
This finding has made it possible to write one more tiny but significant chapter in the unfathomable history of the species that walk or have walked the planet. In addition to its biological relevance, all this also allows us to reconstruct a little better the daily life of the Mesopotamian culture, one of the most important in human history. The kungas are a tangible reminder of how humans have influenced animal evolution and the importance of animals in the history of mankind.