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Main Article:: Bovini

Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are raised for meat, dairy, and as draft animals. There are over 1.3 billion cattle in the world that have been domesticated from 80 progenitors in southeast Turkey approximately 10,500 years ago. Cattle were originally classified into three species but are now classified as one species with two subspecies: taurine cattle and zebu. Cattle can also interbreed with other closely related species, creating hybrids.

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23 views

Main Article:: Bovini

Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are raised for meat, dairy, and as draft animals. There are over 1.3 billion cattle in the world that have been domesticated from 80 progenitors in southeast Turkey approximately 10,500 years ago. Cattle were originally classified into three species but are now classified as one species with two subspecies: taurine cattle and zebu. Cattle can also interbreed with other closely related species, creating hybrids.

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melerine16
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Cattlecolloquially cows[1]are the most common type of

large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of


the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos,
and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos taurus. Cattle are
raised as livestock for meat (beef and veal), as dairy animals for milk and
other dairy products, and as draft animals (oxen or bullocks)
(pulling carts, plows and other implements). Other products
include leather and dung for manure or fuel. In some regions, such as parts
of India, cattle have significant religious meaning. From as few as 80
progenitors domesticated in southeast Turkey about 10,500 years ago,
[2]
according to an estimate from 2003, there are 1.3 billion cattle in the
world.[3] In 2009, cattle became the first livestock animal to have a fully
mapped genome.[4]Etymology and related terminology
Species
Main article: Bovini
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. Now, these have
been reclassified as one species, with Bos taurus primigenius and Bos taurus
indicus.[5]

ubro, a cross between wisent and cattle


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.

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