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European or "Taurine" Cattle Zebu Aurochs: Taurus Primigenius, Bos Taurus Indicus, and Bos Taurus Taurus

Cattle were originally classified into three separate species but are now considered one species with three subspecies. Cattle can also interbreed with other closely related species, creating hybrids like beefalo which are crosses between cattle and bison. This complicates classification. The now-extinct aurochs was the wild ancestor of modern cattle and originally had a wide range throughout Europe, Africa and Asia, but died out in 1627 in Poland.

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28 views

European or "Taurine" Cattle Zebu Aurochs: Taurus Primigenius, Bos Taurus Indicus, and Bos Taurus Taurus

Cattle were originally classified into three separate species but are now considered one species with three subspecies. Cattle can also interbreed with other closely related species, creating hybrids like beefalo which are crosses between cattle and bison. This complicates classification. The now-extinct aurochs was the wild ancestor of modern cattle and originally had a wide range throughout Europe, Africa and Asia, but died out in 1627 in Poland.

Uploaded by

RatulKumarMajumdar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Cattle were originally identified as three separate species: Bos taurus, the European or

"taurine" cattle (including similar types from Africa and Asia); Bos indicus, the zebu; and the
extinct Bos primigenius, the aurochs. The aurochs is ancestral to both zebu and taurine cattle.
[citation needed]
These have been reclassified as one species, Bos taurus, with three subspecies: Bos
taurus primigenius, Bos taurus indicus, and Bos taurus taurus.[4][5]

Complicating the matter is the ability of cattle to interbreed with other closely related species.
Hybrid individuals and even breeds exist, not only between taurine cattle and zebu (such as
the sanga cattle, Bos taurus africanus), but also between one or both of these and some other
members of the genus Bos yaks (the dzo or yattle[6]), banteng, and gaur. Hybrids such as the
beefalo breed can even occur between taurine cattle and either species of bison, leading some
authors to consider them part of the genus Bos, as well.[7] The hybrid origin of some types
may not be obvious for example, genetic testing of the Dwarf Lulu breed, the only taurine-
type cattle in Nepal, found them to be a mix of taurine cattle, zebu, and yak.[8] However,
cattle cannot successfully be hybridized with more distantly related bovines such as water
buffalo or African buffalo.

The aurochs originally ranged throughout Europe, North Africa, and much of Asia. In
historical times, its range became restricted to Europe, and the last known individual died in
Masovia, Poland, in about 1627.[9] Breeders have attempted to recreate cattle of similar
appearance to aurochs by crossing traditional types of domesticated cattle, creating the Heck
cattle breed.

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