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E U R O P E A N D O M E S T I C C O W (Bos taurus) GENUS NAME: Bos SPECIES NAME: taurus DIET: grass, hay, mast (acorns and other seeds and nuts) |
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Although there are many different breeds of cattle, most domesticated cattle belong to two species: Bos taurus (European beef and dairy cattle, such as Angus, Holstein) and Bos indicus (humped cattle that originated in India, such as Brahman, Zebu). Cattle can live to be about 20 years old. Their horns are hollow on the inside. Cows typically give birth to a single calf, but twins are not uncommon. Cattle are ruminants -- animals who have multi-chambered stomachs. They chew their cud, which means that they bring their food up from one of the stomachs' chambers after it has been swallowed for further processing (to be rechewed and reswallowed). READ MORE ABOUT ANIMALS |
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C A T T L E T E R M I N O L O G Y |
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bovine cow heifer dam sire steer doggie bull calf cattle ox udder |
term referring to cattle, bison, buffalo, and yak, wild or domesticated any mature female bovine (cattle, bison, buffalo, yak) a female that has not given birth the mama cow the papa bull a castrated male bovine an orphaned calf an intact mature male bovine (plural: calves) a young, pre-puberty bovine of either sex (plural) bovine animals, especially domesticated members of the genus Bos; English does not have a singular, non-gender-specific form of this word (plural: oxen) 1. any member of the bovine family; 2. a castrated adult male of the genuus Bos used as a draft animal the part of a cow that gives milk |
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S P E C I E S O F T H E G E N U S B O S |
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Bos taurus Bos indicus Bos frontalis frontalis Bos frontalis gaurus Bos javanicus Bos banteng Bos sauveli Bos grunniens grunniens Bos grunniens mutas |
humpless domestic descendants of the now extinct wild aurochs (humpless beef & dairy cattle) humped domestic cattle originating in India (brahma, zebu) gaur of India of SE Asia, also called: mithun or gayal wild gaur -- large cattle of India and SE Asia (IUCN vulnerable) domesticated banteng or tsaine of India and SE Asia (IUCN vulnerable) wild banteng -- cattle of SE Asia (IUCN endangered) kouprey -- large, nearly extinct species of primitive wild cattle of Indochina (IUCN critically endangered) domesticated yak of N.India and Central Asia wild yak, only a few hundred remain (IUCN endangered) N.B.: There is disagreement about sub-species classifacation for the wild and domestic forms of a single species. |
COWS & CALVES
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