''Bubalus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

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 The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted Convention (norm), convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific name, scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the I ...

and

classification Classification is the activity of assigning objects to some pre-existing classes or categories. This is distinct from the task of establishing the classes themselves (for example through cluster analysis). Examples include diagnostic tests, identif ...

of domestic animals as

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

, races or

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

s has been discussed controversially for many years and was inconsistent between authors. Assessors of the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates ...

consider domestic water buffalo populations as breeds. ''Bubalus'' species comprise the domestic

water buffalo The water buffalo (''Bubalus bubalis''), also called domestic water buffalo, Asian water buffalo and Asiatic water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also kept in Italy, the Balkans ...

(''B. bubalis''), the wild water buffalo (''B. arnee''), the tamaraw (''B. mindorensis)'', the lowland anoa (''B. depressicornis''), and the mountain anoa (''B. quarlesi''). The latter two anoa species were proposed to form a subgenus '' Anoa'' within ''Bubalus''.

Characteristics

Smith described ''Bubalus'' as low in proportion to the bulk with very solid limbs, a small dewlap and a long, slender tail; the head is large with a strong convex-shaped narrow forehead, large eyes and funnel-shaped ears; horns are lying flat or bending laterally with a certain direction to the rear; the female udder has four mammae. Lydekker added that the line of back is nearly straight with 13 pairs of ribs; the tail is tufted and reaching about to the hocks; the horns are more or less markedly triangular for the greater part of their length and situated low down on the skull; the muzzle is broad, and the hair sparse in adults.

Species

This genus comprises the following living species:

Valid names

The 2013 checklist of the

Catalogue of Life The Catalogue of Life (CoL) is an online database that provides an index of known species of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms. It was created in 2001 as a partnership between the global Species 2000 and the American Integrated Taxono ...

lists as "accepted" five species binomina in the genus ''Bubalus'': * ''Bubalus bubalis''

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

, 1758 * ''Bubalus depressicornis'' Smith, 1827 * ''Bubalus mephistopheles'' Hopwood, 1925 * ''Bubalus mindorensis'' Heude, 1888 * ''Bubalus quarlesi'' Ouwens, 1910 ''Bubalus arnee'' is not listed here.Roskov Y., Kunze T., Paglinawan L., Orrell T., Nicolson D., Culham A., Bailly N., Kirk P., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Hernandez F., De Wever A., eds (2013)
''Bubalus''
Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life, 2013 Annual Checklist. Reading, UK. The Integrated Taxonomic Information System lists the same five species binomina as valid; it also lists as valid six subspecies of ''Bubalus bubalis'':ITI
Results of: Search in every Kingdom for Scientific Name containing 'Bubalus'
. Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed january 2014. * ''Bubalus bubalis arnee'' Kerr, 1792 * ''Bubalus bubalis bubalis''

, 1758 * ''Bubalus bubalis fulvus'' Blanford, 1891 * ''Bubalus bubalis kerabau'' Fitzinger, 1860 * ''Bubalus bubalis migona'' Deraniyagala, 1952 * ''Bubalus bubalis theerapati'' Groves, 1996

Fossil species

The following

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

species have been described: *'' Bubalus brevicornis'' - Young, 1936 *'' Bubalus cebuensis'' (Cebu tamaraw) - Croft, Heaney, Flynn and Bautista, 2006 *'' Bubalus fudi'' - Guo, 2008 - (possibly a subspecies of ''Bubalus wansijocki'') *'' Bubalus grovesi'' - Rozzi, 2017 *'' Bubalus mephistopheles'' (Short-horned water buffalo) - Hopwood, 1925 *'' Bubalus murrensis'' (European water buffalo) - Berckhemer, 1927 *'' Bubalus palaeokerabau'' (Long-horned Javan water buffalo) - E. Dubois, 1908 *'' Bubalus platyceros'' - Lydekker, 1877 *'' Bubalus teilhardi'' - Young, 1932 *'' Bubalus wansijocki'' - Chardin, 1928 *'' Bubalus youngi'' - Chow and Hsu, 1957

References

{{Authority control Bubalina Herbivorous mammals Mammal genera Taxa named by Charles Hamilton Smith

Characteristics

Species

Valid names

Fossil species

See also

References