Bovines (

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Bovinae) comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized ungulates, including cattle,

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 Ame ...

, African buffalo, water buffalos, 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 A cloven hoof, cleft hoof, divided hoof or split hoof is a hoof split into two toes. This is found on members of the mammalian order Even-toed ungulate, Artiodactyla. Examples of mammals that possess this type of hoof are cattle, deer, pigs, ant ...

and usually at least one of the sexes of a species having true horns. The largest extant bovine is the gaur. In many countries, bovid milk 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 almost everywhere except in parts of India and Nepal, where they are considered sacred by most Hindus. 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 t ...

s and as riding animals. Small breeds of domestic bovid, such as the Miniature Zebu, are kept as pets. Bovid leather is durable and flexible and is used to produce a wide range of goods including clothing and bags.

Systematics and classification

* Family Bovidae ** 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, ''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, ''Boselaphus tragocamelus'' ******''B.t. tragocamelus'' (Indian nilgai) **** Genus '' †Duboisia'' *****'' †D. santeng'' *** Tribe Bovini **** 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, ''Bubalus arnee'' *****Domestic water buffalo, ''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 ...

, ''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 The Cebu tamaraw (''Bubalus cebuensis'') is a fossil dwarf buffalo discovered in the Philippines, and first described in 2006. Anatomy and morphology The most distinctive feature of ''B. cebuensis'' was its small size. Large contemporary domest ...

†, ''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 Holocen ...

, ''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, ''Bos gaurus'' ***** Gayal, ''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 Sta ...

, ''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 primigenius'' ...

, ''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 Trinil ...

''†, ***** 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, ''Bos taurus indicus'' **** Genus ''Pseudoryx'' ***** Saola, ''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 Ame ...

'' ***** American bison, ''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 Amer ...

''†, (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'', also known as the giant bison or long-horned bison, is an Extinction, extinct species of bison that lived in North America during the Pleistocene Epoch (geology), epoch ranging from Alaska to Mexico. It was the largest and he ...

†, ''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 Fau ...

''† (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 mammals ...

-like) *****

Bongo Bongo may refer to: Entertainment * ''Bongo'' (Australian TV series), on air from August to November 1960 * Bongo Comics, a comic book publishing company * Bongo (''Dragon Ball'') or Krillin, a character in ''Dragon Ball'' media * ''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 ra ...

, ''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, ''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, ''Taurotragus oryx'' ***** Giant eland, ''Taurotragus derbianus''

Etymology

Bovine is derived from Latin ''bos'', "ox", through Late Latin ''bovinus''. Bos comes from the Indo-European 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