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Breeding-back
Breeding back is a form of artificial selection by the deliberate selective breeding of domestication, domestic (but not exclusively) animals, in an attempt to achieve an animal breed with a phenotype that resembles a wild type ancestor, usually one that has gone extinct. Breeding back is not to be confused with dedomestication. It must be kept in mind that a breeding-back breed may be very similar to the extinct wild type in phenotype, ecological niche, and to some extent genetics, but the gene pool of that wild type was different prior to its extinction. Even the superficial authenticity of a bred-back animal depends on the particular stock used to breed the new lineage. As a result of this, some breeds, like Heck cattle, are at best a vague look-alike of the extinct wild type aurochs, according to the literature.Cis van Vuure: Retracing the Aurochs – History, Morphology and Ecology of an extinct wild Ox. 2005. Background The aim of breeding back programs is to restore t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heck Cattle
Heck cattle are a hardy breed of domestic cattle. These cattle are the result of an attempt by Heinz and Lutz Heck to breed back the extinct aurochs (''Bos primigenius'') from modern aurochs-derived cattle in the 1920s and 1930s. Controversy revolves around methodology and success of the programme. There are considerable differences between Heck cattle and the aurochs in build, height, and body proportions. Furthermore, there are other cattle breeds which resemble their wild ancestors at least as much as Heck cattle.van Vuure, Cis (2005) ''Retracing the Aurochs - History, Morphology and Ecology of an extinct wild Ox''. History Heck cattle originated in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s in an attempt to breed back domestic cattle to their ancestral form: the aurochs (''Bos primigenius primigenius'').van Vuure, Cis (2005) Retracing the Aurochs - History, Morphology and Ecology of an extinct wild Ox. In the first years of the Weimar Republic, the brothers Heinz and Lutz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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; it had massive elongated and broad horns that reached in length. The aurochs was part of the Pleistocene megafauna. It probably evolved in Asia and migrated west and north during warm interglacial periods. The oldest known aurochs fossils found in India and North Africa date to the Middle Pleistocene and in Europe to the Holstein interglacial. As indicated by fossil remains in Northern Europe, it reached Denmark and southern Sweden during the Holocene. The aurochs declined during the late Holocene due to habitat loss and hunting, and became extinct when the last individual died in 1627 in Jaktorów forest in Poland. The aurochs is depicted in Paleolithic cave paintings, Neolithic petroglyphs, Ancient Egyptian reliefs and Bronze ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tarpan
The term tarpan (''Equus ferus ferus'') refers to free-ranging horses of the Russian steppe from the 18th to the 20th century. It is generally unknown whether those horses represented genuine wild horses, feral domestic horses or hybrids. The last individual believed to be a tarpan died in captivity in the Russian Empire during 1909. Beginning in the 1930s, several attempts were made to develop horses that looked like tarpans through selective breeding, called "breeding back" by advocates. The breeds that resulted included the Heck horse, the , and a derivation of the Konik breed, all of which have a primitive appearance, particularly in having the grullo coat colour. Some of these horses are now commercially promoted as "tarpans", although such animals are only domestic breeds and not the wild animal themselves. Name and etymology The name "tarpan" or "tarpani" derives from a Turkic language ( Kazakh or Kyrgyz) name meaning "wild horse". The Tatars and the Cossacks distingui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natural Selection
Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Charles Darwin popularised the term "natural selection", contrasting it with selective breeding, artificial selection, which in his view is intentional, whereas natural selection is not. Genetic diversity, Variation exists within all populations of organisms. This occurs partly because random mutations arise in the genome of an individual organism, and their offspring can inherit such mutations. Throughout the lives of the individuals, their genomes interact with their environments to cause variations in traits. The environment of a genome includes the molecular biology in the Cell (biology), cell, other cells, other individuals, populations, species, as well as the abiotic environment. Because individuals with certain variants of the trait tend ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Konik
The Konik or Polish Konik, pl, konik polski, is a Polish List of horse breeds, breed of pony. There are semi-feral populations in some regions. They are usually dun gene, mouse dun or primitive markings, striped dun in color. The Bilgoray, pl, konik biłgorajski, of south-eastern Poland is a sub-type of the breed influenced by Arab horse, Arab and Thoroughbred blood; it is close to extinction. The extinct Sweyki or Schweike sub-type of East Prussia contributed to the development of the Trakehner. The word "konik" means 'small horse'. It may be used in a wider sense to describe the Polish Konik and other similar breeds, among them the Hutsul (horse), Hutsul of the Carpathian Mountains, the Polesian (horse), Polesian of Belarus and the Žemaitukas of Lithuania. Etymology The Polish word ''konik'' (plural ''koniki'') is the diminutive of ''koń'', the Polish word for "horse" (sometimes confused with ''kuc, kucyk'' meaning "pony"). It means 'small horse'. History The Ko ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TaurOs Project
{{disambiguation ...
Tauros is a transliteration of either grc, ταῦρος ('bull') or of Proto-Indo-European ('wild bull', 'aurochs') and may refer to: * Tauros Programme, an international effort to breed back domestic cattle to resemble the aurochs * Tauros, a Pokémon species See also * Tauris (other) * Taurus (other) * Centaur * Minotaur * Taro (river) ( la, Tarus) * Torus In geometry, a torus (plural tori, colloquially donut or doughnut) is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three-dimensional space about an axis that is coplanar with the circle. If the axis of revolution does not tou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taurus Project
The Taurus Project of the German aims to re-create the extinct aurochs, the wild ancestor of domestic cattle, by cross-breeding Heck cattle (themselves bred in the 1920s and 1930s in an attempt to replicate the aurochs) with aurochs-like cattle, mostly from Southern Europe. Herds of these cross-bred ''Taurus cattle'' have been established in Germany, Denmark, Hungary and Latvia, and are used in conservation of natural landscapes and biodiversity.Marcel Keiffenheim (text), Lin Lambert (pictures)"Das Ur-Viech." Greenpeace Magazin (Germany) 5.03. Margret Bunzel-Drüke [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chianina
The Chianina () is an Italian breed of large white cattle. It was formerly principally a draught breed; it is now raised mainly for beef. It is the largest and one of the oldest cattle breeds in the world. The ''bistecca alla fiorentina'' is produced from its meat. History The Chianina is one of the oldest breeds of cattle. It originates in the area of the Valdichiana, from which it takes its name, and the middle Tiber valley. Chianina cattle have been raised in the Italian regions of Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio for at least 2200 years. Columella, writing about types of oxen in about 55 AD, says "''Umbria vastos et albos'' ..." (VI.I.2), which in the first English translation is "''Umbria'' has such as are huge, and of a white colour". Chianina oxen were the principal source of agricultural power in the area until displaced by mechanisation and the collapse of the ''mezzadria'' system following the Second World War; they were in use in agriculture until at least 1970 and are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sayaguesa Cattle
The Sayaguesa is an endangered Spanish breed of domestic cattle. It is named for the comarca of Sayago in the province of Zamora, in the western part of the autonomous community of Castile and León, and is raised almost exclusively in that area. It may also be known as the Zamorana, the Moles de Sayago or the Castellana variedad Sayaguesa. It was traditionally kept mainly for draught work, but is now raised principally for meat. History The Sayaguesa was traditionally kept mainly for draught work; with the mechanisation of agriculture following the Second World War, this use declined. In the 1960s there were successive attempts to improve productive qualities by cross-breeding with Friesian, Braunvieh and Charolais, and later with other breeds. From 1970 the Sayaguesa was included with other regional breeds under the denomination Morenas del Noroeste. In 1997 it achieved separate recognition among the breeds identified by the Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lutz Heck
Ludwig Georg Heinrich Heck, called Lutz Heck (23 April 1892 in Berlin, German Empire – 6 April 1983 in Wiesbaden, West Germany) was a German zoologist, animal researcher, animal book author and director of the Berlin Zoological Garden where he succeeded his father in 1932. A member of the Nazi party from 1937, he was a close hunting friend of Hermann Göring, and worked under him. One of his projects was the reconstruction of extinct animals such as the aurochs through cross-breeding of various modern breeds which he thought had parts of the original genetic heritage. Heck cattle and Heck horses are named for the resulting animal breeds. Life and work Lutz was the third child of Margarete and Ludwig Heck (1860-1951), director of Berlin Zoo from 1888 to 1931. He grew up with his brother in the grounds of the Berlin zoo and became very interested in animals and zoology from an early age. He was also influenced by German colonial explorer friends of his father and their tales ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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