Bovines (

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classifica ...

Bovinae) comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized

ungulate Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Ungulata which primarily consists of large mammals with hooves. These include odd-toed ungulates such as horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs; and even-toed ungulates such as cattle, pigs, giraffes, ...

s, including

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...

bison Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North A ...

, African buffalo,

water buffalo The water buffalo (''Bubalus bubalis''), also called the domestic water buffalo or Asian water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also found in Europe, Australia, North America, So ...

s, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The evolutionary relationship between the members of the group is still debated, and their classification into loose tribes rather than formal subgroups reflects this uncertainty. General characteristics include cloven hooves and usually at least one of the sexes of a species having true horns. The largest extant bovine is the

gaur The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ), also known as the Indian bison, is a bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 m ...

. In many countries, bovid

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulat ...

and

meat Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...

is used as food by humans. Cattle are kept as

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to ani ...

almost everywhere except in parts of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

and

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

, where they are considered sacred by most

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

. Bovids are used as

draft animal A working animal is an animal, usually domesticated, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks instead of being slaughtered to harvest animal products. Some are used for their physical strength (e.g. oxen and draft horses) or for ...

s and as

riding animal A working animal is an animal, usually domesticated, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks instead of being slaughtered to harvest animal products. Some are used for their physical strength (e.g. oxen and draft horses) or for ...

s. Small breeds of domestic bovid, such as the

Miniature Zebu The Miniature Zebu is a modern American breed of zebuine miniature cattle. A breed association was established in 1991. History India has numerous traditional breeds of very small zebuine cattle, such as the Vechur breed of southern Kerala. ...

, are kept as pets. Bovid

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hog ...

is durable and flexible and is used to produce a wide range of goods including

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natura ...

and bags.

Systematics and classification

* Family

Bovidae The Bovidae comprise the biological family of cloven-hoofed, ruminant mammals that includes cattle, bison, buffalo, antelopes, and caprines. A member of this family is called a bovid. With 143 extant species and 300 known extinct species, t ...

** Subfamily Bovinae *** Tribe Boselaphini **** Genus ''

Tetracerus The four-horned antelope (''Tetracerus quadricornis''), or ''chousingha'', is a small antelope found in India and Nepal. Its four horns distinguish it from most other bovids, which have two horns (with a few exceptions, such as the Jacob sheep) ...

'' *****

Four-horned antelope The four-horned antelope (''Tetracerus quadricornis''), or ''chousingha'', is a small antelope found in India and Nepal. Its four horns distinguish it from most other bovids, which have two horns (with a few exceptions, such as the Jacob sheep) ...

, ''Tetracerus quadricornis'' ******''T. q. quadricornis'' ******''T. q. iodes'' ******''T. q. subquadricornis'' **** Genus ''

Boselaphus ''Boselaphus'' is a genus of bovid. The nilgai is the sole living representative, although one other species is known from the fossil record. The nilgai along with the four-horned antelope are the only living members of the tribe Boselaphini ...

'' *****

Nilgai The nilgai (''Boselaphus tragocamelus'') (, literally meaning "blue cow") is the largest Asian antelope and is ubiquitous across the northern Indian subcontinent. It is the sole member of the genus ''Boselaphus'' and was described by Peter Si ...

, ''Boselaphus tragocamelus'' ******''B.t. tragocamelus'' (Indian nilgai) **** Genus '' †Duboisia'' *****'' †D. santeng'' *** Tribe

Bovini The tribe Bovini, or wild cattle, are medium to massive bovines that are native to North America, Eurasia, and Africa. These include the enigmatic, antelope-like saola, the African and Asiatic buffalos, and a clade that consists of bison and t ...

**** Genus ''

Bubalus ''Bubalus'' is a genus of Asiatic bovines that was proposed by Charles Hamilton Smith in 1827. ''Bubalus'' and ''Syncerus'' form the subtribe Bubalina, the true buffaloes. The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature and classification of ...

'' *****

Wild water buffalo The wild water buffalo (''Bubalus arnee''), also called Asian buffalo, Asiatic buffalo and wild buffalo, is a large Bovinae, bovine native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It has been listed as ''Endangered species, Endangered'' i ...

, ''Bubalus arnee'' *****Domestic

, ''Bubalus bubalis'' *****

Lowland anoa The lowland anoa ''(Bubalus depressicornis)'' is a species of buffalo endemic to Sulawesi. Its closest relative is the mountain anoa, and it is still a debate as to whether the two are the same species or not. It is also related to the water b ...

, ''Bubalus depressicornis'' *****

Mountain anoa The mountain anoa ''(Bubalus quarlesi)'' also known as Quarle's anoa, is a species of buffalo endemic to Sulawesi. Its closest relative is the lowland anoa, and it is still a debate as to whether the two are the same species or not. It is also ...

, ''Bubalus quarlesi'' ***** Tamaraw, ''Bubalus mindorensis'' ***** Cebu tamaraw†, ''Bubalus cebuensis'' **** Genus '' Bos'' *****

Aurochs The aurochs (''Bos primigenius'') ( or ) is an extinct cattle species, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of the largest herbivores in the Holocene ...

, ''Bos primigenius'' ****** Eurasian aurochs†, ''Bos primigenius primigenius'' ****** Indian aurochs†, ''Bos primigenius namadicus'' *****

Banteng The banteng (''Bos javanicus''; ), also known as tembadau, is a species of cattle found in Southeast Asia. The head-and-body length is between . Wild banteng are typically larger and heavier than their domesticated counterparts, but are otherw ...

, ''Bos javanicus'' *****

Gaur The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ), also known as the Indian bison, is a bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 m ...

, ''Bos gaurus'' *****

Gayal The gayal (''Bos frontalis''), also known as the Drung ox or mithun, is a large domestic cattle distributed in Northeast India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and in Yunnan, China.Simoons, F. J. (1984). ''Gayal or mithan''. In: Mason, I. L. (ed.) ''Evolut ...

, ''Bos frontalis'' *****

Yak The domestic yak (''Bos grunniens''), also known as the Tartary ox, grunting ox or hairy cattle, is a species of long-haired domesticated cattle found throughout the Himalayan region of the Indian subcontinent, the Tibetan Plateau, Kachin S ...

, ''Bos grunniens'' *****

Wild yak The wild yak (''Bos mutus'') is a large, wild bovine native to the Himalayas. It is the ancestor of the domestic yak (''Bos grunniens''). Taxonomy The ancestor of the wild and domestic yak is thought to have diverged from '' Bos primigeniu ...

, ''Bos mutus'' ***** ''

Bos palaesondaicus ''Bos palaesondaicus'' occurred on Pleistocene Java (Indonesia) and belongs to the Bovinae subfamily. It has been described by the Dutch paleoanthropologist Eugène Dubois in 1908.Dubois, E. (1908). Das Geologische Alter der Kendengoder Trin ...

''†, ***** Kouprey, ''Bos sauveli'' ***** Domestic cattle, ''Bos taurus'' ******

Taurine cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

, ''Bos taurus taurus'' ******

Zebu The zebu (; ''Bos indicus'' or ''Bos taurus indicus''), sometimes known in the plural as indicine cattle or humped cattle, is a species or subspecies of domestic cattle originating in the Indian sub-continent. Zebu are characterised by a fatty h ...

, ''Bos taurus indicus'' **** Genus ''Pseudoryx'' *****

Saola The saola (''Pseudoryx nghetinhensis''), also called spindlehorn, Asian unicorn, or infrequently, Vu Quang bovid, is one of the world's rarest large mammals, a forest-dwelling bovine native to the Annamite Range in Vietnam and Laos. It was descr ...

, ''Pseudoryx nghetinhensis'' **** Genus ''Syncerus'' † (extinct) ***** African buffalo, ''Syncerus caffer'' ***** Giant buffalo, ''Syncerus antiquus''† **** Genus ''

Bison Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North A ...

'' *****

American bison The American bison (''Bison bison'') is a species of bison native to North America. Sometimes colloquially referred to as American buffalo or simply buffalo (a different clade of bovine), it is one of two extant species of bison, alongside the ...

, ''Bison bison'' ***** European bison, ''Bison bonasus'' ***** ''

Bison palaeosinensis Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North A ...

''†, (extinct) *****

Steppe wisent The steppe bisonSeveral literatures address the species as ''primeval bison''. or steppe wisent (''Bison'' ''priscus'')
– Y ...

†, ''Bison priscus'' ***** Ancient bison†, ''Bison antiquus'' ***** Long-horned bison†, ''Bison latifrons'' **** Genus ''

Pelorovis ''Pelorovis'' ("prodigious/monstrous sheep") is an extinct genus of African wild cattle which existed during the Pleistocene epoch.Alan Turner & Mauricio Anton: ''Evolving Eden, An Illustrated Guide to the Evolution of the African Large-Mammal ...

''† (extinct) ***** ''

Pelorovis oldowayensis ''Pelorovis'' ("prodigious/monstrous sheep") is an extinct genus of African wild cattle which existed during the Pleistocene epoch.Alan Turner & Mauricio Anton: ''Evolving Eden, An Illustrated Guide to the Evolution of the African Large-Mammal Fau ...

† ***** ''Pelorovis turkanensis''† ***** ''Pelorovis kaisensis''† ***** ''Pelorovis howelli''† *** Tribe Tragelaphini **** Genus '' Tragelaphus'' (

antelope The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mamm ...

-like) ***** Bongo, ''Tragelaphus eurycerus'' ***** Greater kudu, ''Tragelaphus strepsiceros'' *****

Bushbuck The Cape bushbuck (''Tragelaphus sylvaticus'') is a common and a widespread species of antelope in sub-Saharan Africa.Wronski T, Moodley Y. (2009)Bushbuck, harnessed antelope or both? ''Gnusletter'', 28(1):18-19. Bushbuck are found in a wide ran ...

, ''Tragelaphus scriptus'' ***** Lesser kudu, ''Tragelaphus imberbis'' *****

Mountain nyala The mountain nyala (Amharic: የተራራ ኒዮላ) (''Tragelaphus buxtoni'') or balbok is an antelope found in high altitude woodland in a small part of central Ethiopia. It is a monotypic species (without any identified subspecies) first de ...

, ''Tragelaphus buxtoni'' *****

Nyala The lowland nyala or simply nyala (''Tragelaphus angasii'') is a spiral-horned antelope native to southern Africa. It is a species of the family Bovidae and genus ''Tragelaphus'', previously placed in genus ''Nyala''. It was first described in ...

, ''Tragelaphus angasii'' *****

Sitatunga The sitatunga or marshbuck (''Tragelaphus spekii'') is a swamp-dwelling antelope found throughout central Africa, centering on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, parts of Southern Sudan, Equatorial Guinea ...

, ''Tragelaphus spekeii'' **** Genus '' Taurotragus'' *****

Common eland The common eland (''Taurotragus oryx''), also known as the southern eland or eland antelope, is a savannah and plains antelope found in East and Southern Africa. It is a species of the family Bovidae and genus '' Taurotragus''. An adult male is ...

, ''Taurotragus oryx'' *****

Giant eland The giant eland (''Taurotragus derbianus''), also known as the Lord Derby eland and greater eland, is an open-forest and savanna antelope. A species of the family Bovidae and genus ''Taurotragus'', it was described in 1847 by John Edward Gray. T ...

, ''Taurotragus derbianus''

Etymology

Bovine is derived from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

''bos'', "ox", through

Late Latin Late Latin ( la, Latinitas serior) is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the , and continuing into the 7th century in t ...

''bovinus''. Bos comes from the

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Du ...

root ''*g^wous'', meaning ox.

References

* International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (2003) Opinion 2027 (Case 3010). Usage of 17 specific names based on wild species which are pre-dated by or contemporary with those based on domestic animals (Lepidoptera, Osteichthyes, Mammalia): conserved. ''Bull. Zool. Nomencl''., 60:81–84.

External links

Bovinae
information in ITIS.
Congress on Controversies in Bovine Health, Industry & Economics (CoBo)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4979192 Bovidae Taxa named by John Edward Gray Mammal subfamilies Extant Miocene first appearances