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Bovinae
 
 
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The biological subfamily bovinae includes a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large sized ungulate
Ungulate

Ungulates are several groups of mammals, most of which use the tips of their toes, usually hoofed, to sustain their whole body weight while moving....
s, including domestic cattle
Cattle

Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domestication ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. They are raised as livestock for meat , dairy products , leather and as draft animals ....
, the bison
Bison

Bison is a taxonomic group containing six species of large even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Only two of these species still exist: the American bison and the European bison, or wisent , each with two subspecies....
, the water buffalo
Bubalus

Bubalus is a genus of bovines, whose English name is buffalo. Species that belong to this genus are:* Subgenus Bubalus** Water Buffalo, Bubalus bubalis...
, the yak
Yak

The yak is a long-haired bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and as far north as Mongolia....
, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The evolutionary relationship between the members of the group is obscure, and their classification into loose tribes rather than formal sub-groups reflects this uncertainty. General characteristics include a cloven hoof
Cloven hoof

A cloven hoof is a hoof split into two toes. This is found on members within the mammalian order Artiodactyla. Examples of mammals that possess this type of hoof are pigs, deer and sheep....
 and usually at least one of the sexes of a species having a true horn
Horn (anatomy)

A horn is a pointed projection of the skin on the head of various mammals, consisting of a covering of horn surrounding a core of living bone....
.

In most countries, bovines are used for food.






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The biological subfamily bovinae includes a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large sized ungulate
Ungulate

Ungulates are several groups of mammals, most of which use the tips of their toes, usually hoofed, to sustain their whole body weight while moving....
s, including domestic cattle
Cattle

Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domestication ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. They are raised as livestock for meat , dairy products , leather and as draft animals ....
, the bison
Bison

Bison is a taxonomic group containing six species of large even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Only two of these species still exist: the American bison and the European bison, or wisent , each with two subspecies....
, the water buffalo
Bubalus

Bubalus is a genus of bovines, whose English name is buffalo. Species that belong to this genus are:* Subgenus Bubalus** Water Buffalo, Bubalus bubalis...
, the yak
Yak

The yak is a long-haired bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and as far north as Mongolia....
, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The evolutionary relationship between the members of the group is obscure, and their classification into loose tribes rather than formal sub-groups reflects this uncertainty. General characteristics include a cloven hoof
Cloven hoof

A cloven hoof is a hoof split into two toes. This is found on members within the mammalian order Artiodactyla. Examples of mammals that possess this type of hoof are pigs, deer and sheep....
 and usually at least one of the sexes of a species having a true horn
Horn (anatomy)

A horn is a pointed projection of the skin on the head of various mammals, consisting of a covering of horn surrounding a core of living bone....
.

In most countries, bovines are used for food. Cows are eaten almost everywhere except parts of India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, where bovines are considered sacred by Hindus.

Systematics and classification

  • FAMILY BOVIDAE
    • Subfamily Bovinae
      • Tribe Boselaphini
        Boselaphini

        The Boselaphini or four-horned antelope tribe are the last survivors of a form very similar to that of the ancestors of the entire subfamily. Both species have relatively primitive anatomical and behavioural characteristics and the females have no horns....
        • Genus Tetracerus
          • Four-horned Antelope
            Four-horned Antelope

            The Four-horned Antelope also known as the chousingha is an antelope found in open forest in South Asia. Its primary distribution is in India extending South of the Gangetic plains down till the state of Tamilnadu....
            , Tetracerus quadricornis
        • Genus Boselaphus
          • Nilgai
            Nilgai

            The Nilgai is an antelope which is one of the most commonly seen wild animals of northern India and eastern Pakistan. The mature males appear ox-like and are also known as Blue bulls....
             or blue bull, Boselaphus tragocamelus (not to be confused with the extinct Bluebuck
            Bluebuck

            The Bluebuck or Blue Antelope is an extinct species of antelope, the first large African mammal to disappear in historic times. It is related to the Roan Antelope and Sable Antelope, but slightly smaller than either....
             Hippotragus leucophaeus, Hippotraginae)
      • Tribe Bovini
        Bovini

        The Bovini tribe is made up of large to very large grazers, including large animals of great economic significance to humans in Domestic Cattle, Domestic buffalo, and the Yak, as well as smaller Asian relatives, and large free-roaming bovids in the African Buffalo and the American Bison....
        • Genus Bubalus
          Bubalus

          Bubalus is a genus of bovines, whose English name is buffalo. Species that belong to this genus are:* Subgenus Bubalus** Water Buffalo, Bubalus bubalis...
          • Domestic Asian Water buffalo, Bubalus bubalus
          • Wild Asian Water buffalo
            Wild Asian Water Buffalo

            True Wild Asian Water Buffalo or Wild Asiatic Water Buffalo is an endangered species. It is thought to survive in India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan and Thailand....
            , Bubalus Arnee
          • Lowland Anoa, Bubalus depressicornis
          • Mountain Anoa, Bubalus quarlesi
          • Tamaraw
            Tamaraw

            The Tamaraw or Mindoro Dwarf Buffalo is a small hoofed mammal belonging to the family Bovidae. It is Endemism to the island of Mindoro in the Philippines and is the only endemic Philippine bovine....
            , Bubalus mindorensis
        • Genus Bos
          Bos

          Bos is the genus of wild and domestication cattle. Bos can be divided into four subgenus: Bos, Bibos, Novibos, and Poephagus, but the distinction is controversial....
          • Aurochs
            Aurochs

            The aurochs or urus was a very large type of cattle that was prevalent in Europe until its extinction in 1627. The animal's original scientific name, Bos primigenius, was meant as a Latin translation of the German language term Auerochse or Urochs, which was interpreted as literally meaning "primeval ox" or "proto-ox"....
            , Bos primigenius (extinct)
          • Banteng, Bos javanicus
          • Gaur
            Gaur

            The gaur is a large, dark-coated bovine animal of South Asia and Southeast Asia. The biggest populations are found today in India. The gaur is the largest species of wild cattle, bigger than the African Buffalo, Wild Asian Water Buffalo and bison....
            , Bos gaurus
          • Gayal
            Gayal

            Gayal is the Domestication gaur, probably a gaur-cattle hybrid breed.The wild group and the domesticated group are sometimes considered separate species, with the wild gaur called Bibos gauris or Bos gaurus, and the domesticated gayal or mithun called Bos frontalis Lambert, 1804....
            , Bos frontalis (domestic gaur)
          • Yak
            Yak

            The yak is a long-haired bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and as far north as Mongolia....
            , Bos mutus
          • Domestic Cattle, Bos taurus (increasingly considered a subspecies of Bos primigenius)
          • Kouprey
            Kouprey

            Kouprey is a wild forest-dwelling ox found mainly in northern Cambodia but also believed to exist in southern Laos, western Vietnam, and eastern Thailand....
            , Bos sauveli
        • Genus Pseudonovibos
          • Kting Voar
            Kting Voar

            The Kting Voar, also known as the Khting Vor, Linh Duong, or Snake-eating Cow is a bovid mammal reputed to exist in Cambodia and Vietnam....
            , Pseudonovibos spiralis
        • Genus Pseudoryx
          • Saola
            Saola

            The Saola or Vu Quang ox, also, infrequently, Vu Quang bovid , one of the world's rarest mammals, is a forest-dwelling bovine found only in Vietnam and in Laos, near the Vietnam-Laotian border....
            , Pseudoryx nghetinhensis
        • Genus Syncerus
          • African Buffalo
            African Buffalo

            The African Buffalo or Cape Buffalo is a large African bovid. It is up to 1.7 meters high, 3.4 meters long. Savannah type buffaloes weigh 500-900 kg, with only males, normally larger than females, reaching the upper weight range....
            , Syncerus caffer
        • Genus Bison
          • American Bison
            American Bison

            The American Bison is a bovinae mammal, also commonly known as the American buffalo. "Buffalo" is somewhat of a misnomer for this animal, as it is only distantly related to either of the two "true buffaloes", the Wild Asian Water Buffalo and the African buffalo....
            , Bison bison
          • Wisent
            Wisent

            File:Bison bonasus right eye close-up.jpgThe wisent , or European bison , is a bison species and the heaviest surviving Terrestrial animal in Europe....
            , Bison bonasus
          • Steppe Wisent
            Steppe Wisent

            The Steppe Bison or steppe wisent was a bison found on steppes throughout Europe, Central Asia, Beringia and North America during the Quaternary....
            , Bison priscus (extinct)
      • Tribe Strepsicerotini
        Strepsicerotini

        Where the Boselaphini and Bovini are mostly Asian, members of the Strepsicerotini tribe, the spiral-horned antelopes, are found only on the continent of Africa....
        • Genus Tragelaphus
          Tragelaphus

          The genus Tragelaphus contains several species of bovine, all of which are relatively antelope. Species in this genus tend to be large sized, lightly built, have long necks and considerable sexual dimorphism....
           (antelope-like
          Antelope

          Antelope are ruminant hoofed mammals of the family Bovidae in the order of even-toed ungulates. These animals are spread relatively evenly throughout the various subfamily of Bovidae and many are more closely related to cows or goats than to each other....
          )
          • Sitatunga
            Sitatunga

            The sitatunga or marshbuck is a swamp antelope found throughout Central Africa, centering on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as in Botswana, Zambia, and Kenya....
            , Tragelaphus spekeii
          • Nyala
            Nyala

            The Nyala is a South African antelope. It is a spiral-horned dense-forest antelope that is uncomfortable in open spaces and is most often seen at water holes....
            , Tragelaphus angasii
          • Bushbuck
            Bushbuck

            The Bushbuck is an antelope that is found in forest and woodland throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. Also called "bush antelope", this is used occasionally for any relativers with which it shares its habitat....
            , Tragelaphus scriptus
          • Mountain Nyala
            Mountain Nyala

            The Mountain Nyala known in Ethiopia as Agazen is an antelope found in high altitude woodland in a small part of central Ethiopia. Mountain Nyala were named for their similarity to the Nyala but they are now considered closer relatives of the Kudu....
             Tragelaphus buxtoni
          • Lesser Kudu
            Lesser Kudu

            The Lesser Kudu is a forest antelope found in East Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula.The Southern Lesser Kudu is a subspecies found in Kenya and Tanzania....
            , Tragelaphus imberbis
          • Greater Kudu
            Greater Kudu

            The Greater Kudu is a woodland antelope found throughout East Africa and Southern Africa Africa. Despite occupying such widespread territory , they are sparsely populated in most areas, due to a declining habitat, deforestation and hunting....
            , Tragelaphus strepsiceros
          • Bongo
            Bongo (antelope)

            The Western or Lowland Bongo, Tragelaphus eurycerus eurycerus, is a herbivorous, mostly nocturnal forest ungulate and among the largest of the African forest antelope species....
            , Tragelaphus eurycerus
        • Genus Taurotragus
          Taurotragus

          Taurotragus, also called Eland, is a genus of antelopes of the African savannah, containing two species: the Common Eland and the Giant Eland....
          • Common Eland
            Common Eland

            The Common Eland is a Savanna and plains antelope found in East Africa and Southern Africa....
            , Taurotragus oryx
          • Giant Eland
            Giant Eland

            The 'Giant Eland' is an open forest savannah antelope. It is found in Central African Republic, Sudan, Cameroon and Senegal. There are two subspecies: the endangered T....
            , Taurotragus derbianus


Etymology

Bovine is derived from Latin bos, "ox", through Late Latin bovinus.Bos derives from the Greek word ???? (Vus)meaning ox.

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