''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 Bovines (subfamily Bovinae) comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized ungulates, including Bos, cattle, bison, African buffalo, Bubalus, water buffalos, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The members of this gro ...

that was proposed by

Charles Hamilton Smith Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Hamilton Smith, Royal Guelphic Order, KH, Military Order of William, KW, Royal Society, FRS, Linnean Society of London, FLS (26 December 1776 – 21 September 1859) was a British Army officer, artist, naturalist, ant ...

in 1827. ''Bubalus'' and ''

Syncerus ''Syncerus'' is a genus of African bovid that contains the living Cape buffalo ''(Syncerus caffer)'', including the distinct African forest buffalo The African forest buffalo (''Syncerus caffer nanus''), also known as the dwarf buffalo or the ...

'' form the subtribe

Bubalina Bubalina is a subtribe of wild cattle that includes the various species of true buffalo. Species include the African buffalo, the anoas, and the wild water buffalo (including the domesticated variant water buffalo). Buffaloes can be found natu ...

, 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 The wild water buffalo (''Bubalus arnee''), also called Asian buffalo, Asiatic buffalo and wild buffalo, is a large bovine native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It has been listed as ''Endangered'' in the IUCN Red List since 198 ...

(''B. arnee''), the

tamaraw The tamaraw or Mindoro dwarf buffalo (''Bubalus mindorensis'') is a small buffalo belonging to the family Bovidae. It is endemic to the island of Mindoro in the Philippines, and is the only endemic Philippine bovine. It is believed, however, ...

(''B. mindorensis)'', the

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 bu ...

(''B. depressicornis''), and the

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 r ...

(''B. quarlesi''). The latter two anoa species were proposed to form a subgenus ''

Anoa Anoa, also known as dwarf buffalo and ''sapiutan'', are two species of the genus ''Bubalus'', placed within the subgenus ''Anoa'' and endemic to the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia: the mountain anoa (''Bubalus quarlesi'') and the lowland ano ...

'' within ''Bubalus''.

Characteristics

Smith described ''Bubalus'' as low in proportion to the bulk with very solid limbs, a small

dewlap A dewlap is a longitudinal flap of skin or similar flesh that hangs beneath the lower jaw or neck of many vertebrates. More loosely, it can be various similar structures in the neck area, such as those caused by a double chin or the submandibula ...

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 A mammary gland is an exocrine gland that produces milk in humans and other mammals. Mammals get their name from the Latin word ''mamma'', "breast". The mammary glands are arranged in organs such as the breasts in primates (for example, humans ...

. 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 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoologic ...

* ''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 The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) is an American partnership of federal agencies designed to provide consistent and reliable information on the taxonomy of biological species. ITIS was originally formed in 1996 as an interagenc ...

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''

* ''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 ''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 ...

'' - Young, 1936 *'' Bubalus cebuensis'' (Cebu tamaraw) - Croft, Heaney, Flynn and Bautista, 2006 *'' Bubalus fudi'' - Guo, 2008 - (possibly a subspecies of ''Bubalus wansijocki'') *''

Bubalus grovesi ''Bubalus grovesi'' is an extinct species of water buffalo that lived in southern Sulawesi during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene. ''B. grovesi'' was an extremely small buffalo species, estimated at only . It experienced a body size redu ...

'' - Rozzi, 2017 *''

Bubalus mephistopheles ''Bubalus mephistopheles'', also known as the short-horned water buffalo, is an extinct species of bovine that lived in China during the Pleistocene and Holocene. It survived into historic times, perhaps as recently as 1200 BC. Description The sh ...

'' (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 ''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 ...

'' - 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