''Bubalus murrensis'', also known as European water buffalo, is an extinct

bovine Bovines (subfamily Bovinae) comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized ungulates, including cattle, bison, African buffalo, water buffalos, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The evolutionary relationship betwe ...

that lived in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

during the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

. Its closest living relatives are the

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)'', the

tamaraw The tamaraw or Mindoro dwarf buffalo (''Bubalus mindorensis'') is a small hoofed mammal 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, howe ...

''(Bubalus mindorensis)'', the lowland anoa ''(Bubalus depressicornis)'', the mountain anoa ''(Bubalus quarlesi)'' and the domestic

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 ...

''(Bubalus bubalis)''. A 2021 study of the DNA of current European buffalo herds showed that there was some

interbreeding In biology, a hybrid is the offspring resulting from combining the qualities of two organisms of different breeds, varieties, species or genera through sexual reproduction. Hybrids are not always intermediates between their parents (such as in ...

with the domestic water buffalo before it finally became extinct.

Description

The morphology of ''Bubalus murrensis'' is very similar to other ''Bubalus'' species like the Wild Asian water buffalo ''(Bubalus arnee)''. Only the skull differs from other bovines, especially the triangular horns. A skull found in

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

(

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) had a width of 107 cm.

Distribution and habitat

The European water buffalo occurred in river valleys. Remains are very rare. The majority of finds have come from along the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...

and Murr in Germany and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Isolated specimens have also been found between the Atlantic coast of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in the west and the central part of the

East European Plain The East European Plain (also called the Russian Plain, "Extending from eastern Poland through the entire European Russia to the Ural Mountaina, the ''East European Plain'' encompasses all of the Baltic states and Belarus, nearly all of Ukraine, an ...

in the east (a superbly preserved Allerød-aged skull from Moscow Oblast, near Kolomna). It lived in muddy and swampy terrain. ''Bubalus murrensis'' could not tolerate long-lasting episodes of frost and was therefore absent in Central Europe during the

glacial period A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betwe ...

s. During the interglacial periods like the Eemian it occurred together with other species of the interglacial faunal assemblage, including the straight-tusked elephant (''Palaeoloxodon antiquus''), Merck's rhinoceros ('' Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis''), fallow deer (''

Dama dama The European fallow deer (''Dama dama''), also known as the common fallow deer or simply fallow deer, is a species of ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. It is historically native to Turkey and possibly the Italian Peninsula, Bal ...

''), aurochs (''Bos primigenius'') and the European hippopotamus (''

Hippopotamus antiquus ''Hippopotamus antiquus'', sometimes called the European hippopotamus, is an extinct species of ''Hippopotamus'' that ranged across Europe during the Early and Middle Pleistocene. Chronology In Italy, the first appearance of the taxon is durin ...

''). Fossils are known from the latest Pleistocene near

Kolomna Kolomna ( rus, Колóмна, p=kɐˈlomnə) is a historical city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, situated at the confluence of the Moskva and Oka Rivers, (by rail) southeast of Moscow. Population: History Mentioned for the first time in 1177, Ko ...

, Russia around 11,000 years old, suggesting that the European water buffalo persisted on the

Pontic–Caspian steppe The Pontic–Caspian steppe, formed by the Caspian steppe and the Pontic steppe, is the steppeland stretching from the northern shores of the Black Sea (the Pontus Euxinus of antiquity) to the northern area around the Caspian Sea. It extend ...

during cold glacial periods.

References

Bovines Fossil taxa described in 1927 Cenozoic mammals of Europe {{eventoedungulate-stub

Description

Distribution and habitat

See also

References