Indian aurochs

The Indian aurochs (Bos primigenius namadicus) is a subspecies of the extinct aurochs. It is considered as the ancestor of the zebu cattle, which is mainly found in southern Asia and has been introduced in many other parts of the world, like Africa and South America. In contrast, the taurine cattle breeds, which are native to Europe, the Near East, and other parts of the world, are descendants of the Eurasian aurochs (Bos primigenuis primigenius). The Indian aurochs disappeared in the Holocene, probably around 2000 BC.

Description

The Indian aurochs is known from fossil and subfossil remains. These show relatively slight differences to the Eurasian aurochs (B. p. primigenius). The Indian aurochs was probably smaller than its Eurasian counterpart but had proportionally larger horns. Because the range of the aurochs probably was continuous from Portugal to India, it is uncertain whether there was a clear distinction or a continuum between the Eurasian and Indian subspecies.

The Indian aurochs diverged from the Eurasian aurochs (B. p. primigenius) about 100,000 - 200,000 years ago. This has been shown by comparison of DNA from zebus and taurine cattle breeds, the living descendants of these two aurochs forms. The Indian aurochs is sometimes regarded as a distinct species. Zebu cattle is phenotypically distinguished from taurine cattle by the presence of a prominent shoulder hump.