2/9/2024 0 Comments Taurine cattle breeds![]() Maronesa, a breed that is wonderfully aurochs-like in many respects, usually has rather heavy and longish bulls too. Lidia bulls are generally too short-legged, with a few exceptions. Also, in Chianina, some bulls have indeed the 1:1 ratio, others do not, it depends on the individual. Sayaguesa, a heavily used breed that has many qualities, often has rather longish or short-legged bulls. This is not surprising, considering that many of the primitive taurine breeds from Europe are imperfect in this regard. The Taurus bull Lamarck - the shoulder height to trunk length ratio is not completely there yet In the cows, the trunk is usually longer than the shoulder height too although it should be slightly shorter. I used two photos to determine the ratio, one resulted in 1:1,07 and the other one in 1:1,16. In Lamarck, the best Taurus bull so far, the ratio comes closer to the aurochs. For example, in the otherwise rather nice bull Darth Vader III, the legs are not long enough respectively the trunk is too long. “Breeding-back” struggles to achieve that ratio – in Heck cattle the trunk is generally too long and the legs too short (with very few exceptions), I have also not seen a Tauros cattle individual with the right ratio yet, and also in Taurus cattle the ratio is not entirely as in the aurochs. In male aurochs the ratio was 1:1, in cows the trunk was even a little shorter. But there is an even more important trait that zebus could contribute that was not considered yet: an aurochs-like ratio of trunk length to shoulder height ratio (note: not withers height, that parameter is influenced by the height of the spines). Watussi is or was used in some projects/breeds to achieve an aurochs-like horn volume. Thinking of useful traits that zebuine or zebuine-influenced breeds can contribute to “breeding-back” the European aurochs, the first trait that comes to mind are large horns. I also consider the reverse possible, that taurine cattle have aurochs alleles that zebus lost, but that has not been proven genetically yet. This could be the result of genetic drift (hence “coincidence”), or maybe zebus did indeed preserve some primitive organismic traits that taurine cattle have lost. And what is very interesting is that zebus seemingly share wildtype alleles with the European aurochs that taurine cattle have lost. But, on the other hand, they also have traits useful for “breeding-back” the European aurochs. ![]() Surely, zebus have undesired traits, such as the zebuine hump, hanging ears or the adaption to hot, arid climate and hence a coat that would be insufficient for European climate. I make no secret of the fact that I am not averse to using zebuine or zebuine-influenced cattle for “breeding-back” the European aurochs, Bos primigenius primigenius.
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