Aurochs

Aurochs
From LoveToKnow 1911
AUROCHS (from Lat. urus, the wild ox, and "ox") or Urus, the name of the extinct wild ox of Europe (Bos taurus primigenius), which after the disappearance of that animal became transferred to the bison.

The aurochs ( /ˈaʊrɒks/ or /ˈɔrɒks/; also urus, Bos primigenius), the ancestor of domestic cattle, was a type of large wild cattle which inhabited Europe, Asia and North Africa, but which is now extinct; ...

Aurochs, Bos primigenius (extinct)
Banteng, Bos javanicus
Gaur, Bos gaurus
Gayal, Bos frontalis (domestic gaur)
Yak, Bos mutus
Domestic Cattle, Bos taurus (increasingly considered a subspecies of Bos primigenius)
Zebu, Bos indicus ...

These were Bos taurus, the European 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 European cattle.

While wild relatives of goats and sheep can still be found in their native habitat, the wild ancestors of domesticated cattle, aurochs, have been extinct in the wild for nearly 300 years.

We get our cheese, milk and meat from these great big animals. Today's domesticated cattle are descendents of a primitive form of ox that lived in europe and the middle east in the bc time period. They were called Aurochs and they used to live in ...

See also: Cattle, Buffalo, Water Buffalo, Bison, Gaur