Aurochs#Body shape

Both "aur" and "ur" are Germanic or Celtic words meaning "wild ox".{{Cite book |last=Partridge |first=E. |author-link=Eric Partridge |title=Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English |publisher=Greenwich House |year=1983 |location=New York |isbn=978-0-517-41425-5 |page=523 |chapter=Urus, Uri gallica |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/anetymologicald00valpgoog/page/523/mode/2up}}{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=C. T. |author1-link=Charlton Thomas Lewis |last2=Short |first2=C. |name-list-style=amp |year=1879 |title=A Latin Dictionary |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |chapter=ūrus |page=1936 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.61236/page/n1945/mode/1up}}

In Old High German, this word was compounded with ohso ('ox') to ūrohso, which became the early modern Aurochs. The Latin word "urus" was used for wild ox from the Gallic Wars onwards.{{cite book |last=McDevitte |first=W. A. |title=The Gallic Wars by Julius Caesar |publisher=Harper & Brothers |year=1869 |edition=First |series=Harper's New Classical Library |place=New York |translator=Bohn, W. S. |chapter=Book 6, Chapter 28 |chapter-url=http://classics.mit.edu/Caesar/gallic.6.6.html}}

The use of the plural form {{lang|en|aurochsen}} in English is a direct parallel of the German plural Ochsen and recreates the same distinction by analogy as English singular ox and plural oxen, although aurochs may stand for both the singular and the plural term; both are attested.{{cite book |last=Crystal|first=David |author-link=David Crystal |title=The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language |publisher=Cambridge University Press |place=Cambridge |year=2003 |edition=Third |isbn= 9781108437738 |page=213}}{{cite book |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321290645 |title=Resurrecting Extinct Species |author1=Campbell, D.I. |author2=Whittle, P.M. |chapter=Three Case Studies: Aurochs, Mammoths and Passenger Pigeons |name-list-style=amp |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |place=Cham |page=30 |year=2017 |isbn=978-3-319-69578-5 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-69578-5_2}}

The scientific name Bos taurus was introduced by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 for feral cattle in Poland.{{Cite book |last=Linnaeus |first=C. |author-link=Carl Linnaeus |title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae: secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis |date=1758 |publisher=Laurentii Salvii |edition=Tenth reformed |volume=1 |location=Holmiae |page=71 |language=la |chapter=Bos Taurus |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/mobot31753000798865/page/70/mode/2up}}

The scientific name Bos primigenius was proposed for the aurochs by Ludwig Heinrich Bojanus who described the skeletal differences between the aurochs and domestic cattle in 1825, published in 1827.{{cite journal |last=Bojanus |first=L.H. |author-link=Ludwig Heinrich Bojanus |year=1827 |title=De Uro nostrate eiusque sceleto commentation |url=https://archive.org/details/novaactaphysicom13218kais/page/444/mode/2up |journal=Nova Acta Physico-medica Academiae Caesareae Leopoldino-Carolinae Naturae Curiosum |language=latin |volume=13 |issue=5 |pages=53–478}}{{Cite journal |last1=Daszkiewicz |first1=P. |name-list-style=amp |last2=Samojlik |first2=T. |date=2019 |title=Corrected date of the first description of aurochs Bos primigenius (Bojanus, 1827) and steppe bison Bison priscus (Bojanus, 1827) |journal=Mammal Research |volume=64 |issue=2 |pages=299–300 |doi=10.1007/s13364-018-0389-6 |doi-access=free}} The name Bos namadicus was used by Hugh Falconer in 1859 for cattle fossils found in Nerbudda deposits.{{cite journal |author1=Falconer |first=H. |year=1859 |title=Notice of the various species of bovine animals |url=https://archive.org/details/zoologistmonthly1718unse/page/6419/mode/1up |journal=The Zoologist |volume=17 |pages=6414–6429}}

Bos primigenius mauritanicus was coined by Philippe Thomas in 1881 who described fossils found in deposits near Oued Seguen west of Constantine, Algeria.{{cite journal |last=Thomas |first=P. |year=1881 |title=Recherches sur les bovidés fossiles de l'Algérie |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5442632q/f146.item |journal=Bulletin de la Société Zoologique de France |volume=6 |issue=Avril |pages=92–136}}

In 2003, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature placed Bos primigenius on the Official List of Specific Names in Zoology and thereby recognized the validity of this name for a wild species.{{cite journal |last1=International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature |year=2003 |title=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) |journal=The Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature |volume=60 |issue=1 |pages=81–84 |url=https://archive.org/stream/bulletinofzoolog602003int#page/80/mode/2up}}{{cite journal |author1=Gentry, A. |author2=Clutton-Brock, J. |author-link2=Juliet Clutton-Brock |author3=Groves, C.P. |author-link3=Colin Groves |name-list-style=amp |date=2004 |title=The naming of wild animal species and their domestic derivatives |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |volume=31 |issue=5 |pages=645–651 |doi=10.1016/j.jas.2003.10.006 |bibcode=2004JArSc..31..645G |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222518224}}

Three aurochs subspecies have traditionally been recognised to have existed in historical times:

• The Eurasian aurochs (B. p. primigenius) was part of the Pleistocene megafauna in Eurasia and survived until the 17th century in Eastern Europe.{{cite journal |author1=Bollongino, R. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Burger, J. |author3=Powell, A. |author4=Mashkour, M. |author5=Vigne, J.-D. |author6=Thomas, M. G. |year=2012 |title=Modern Taurine Cattle descended from small number of Near-Eastern founders |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |volume=29 |issue=9 |pages=2101–2104 |doi=10.1093/molbev/mss092 |pmid=22422765 |doi-access=free}}
• The Indian aurochs (B. p. namadicus) lived on the Indian subcontinent.{{cite book |author1=Avise, J.C. |author2=Ayala, F.J. |title=In the Light of Evolution |name-list-style=amp |chapter= |year=2009 |volume=106 |pages=9933–9938 |doi=10.17226/12692 |pmid=25032348 |isbn=978-0-309-13986-1 |doi-access=free}}
• The North African aurochs (B. p. mauritanicus) lived north of the Sahara. This subspecies has also been called B. p. opisthonomus.{{cite journal |last1=Hou |first1=Jiawen |last2=Guan |first2=Xiwen |last3=Xia |first3=Xiaoting |last4=Lyu |first4=Yang |last5=Liu |first5=Xin |last6=Mazei |first6=Yuri |last7=Xie |first7=Ping |last8=Chang |first8=Fengqin |last9=Zhang |first9=Xiaonan |last10=Chen |first10=Jialei |last11=Li |first11=Xinyi |last12=Zhang |first12=Fengwei |last13=Jin |first13=Liangliang |last14=Luo |first14=Xiaoyu |last15=Sinding |first15=Mikkel-Holger S. |last16=Sun |first16=Xin |last17=Achilli |first17=Alessandro |last18=Migliore |first18=Nicola Rambaldi |last19=Zhang |first19=Dongju |last20=Lenstra |first20=Johannes A. |last21=Han |first21=Jianlin |last22=Fu |first22=Qiaomei |last23=Liu |first23=Xinyi |last24=Zhang |first24=Xiaoming |last25=Chen |first25=Ningbo |last26=Lei |first26=Chuzhao |last27=Zhang |first27=Hucai |display-authors=5 |title=Evolution and legacy of East Asian aurochs |journal=Science Bulletin |date=15 November 2024 |volume=69 |issue=21 |pages=3425–3433 |doi=10.1016/j.scib.2024.09.016 |issn=2095-9273|doi-access=free |pmid=39322456 |bibcode=2024SciBu..69.3425H }}{{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}}

In the 21st century, Chinese geneticists published mitochondrial DNA evidence supporting that Eurasian aurochs populations from northern China were genetically isolated for large stretches of the Pleistocene, and as a result distinctive enough to be considered a separate subspecies, the East Asian aurochs (B. p. sinensis), even if the animals were not morphologically distinct.

At least two dwarf subspecies of aurochs developed on Mediterranean islands as a result of sea level changes during the Pleistocene:

• B. p. siciliae on the Italian island of Sicily.Mangano, G., Bonfiglio, L., & Petruso, D. (2005). Excavations of 2003 at the S. Teodoro cave (North-Eastern Sicily, Italy): preliminary faunistic and stratigraphic data. Geo. Alp, 2, 71-76.Petruso, D., Sara, M., Surdi, G., & Masini, F. (2011). Le faune a mammiferi della Sicilia tra il Tardiglaciale e l'Olocene. Biogeographia–The Journal of Integrative Biogeography, 30(1).
• B. p. thrinacius on the Greek island of Kythira.{{Cite journal |last1=Siarabi |first1=S. |last2=Kostopoulos |first2=D. S. |last3=Bartsiokas |first3=A. |last4=Rozzi |first4=R. |year=2023 |title=Insular aurochs (Mammalia, Bovidae) from the Pleistocene of Kythera Island, Greece |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=319 |at=108342 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108342 |bibcode=2023QSRv..31908342S |s2cid=263817925}}

Calibrations using fossils of 16 Bovidae species indicate that the Bovini tribe evolved about {{mya|11.7}}.{{cite journal |last=Bibi |first=F. |year=2013 |title=A multi-calibrated mitochondrial phylogeny of extant Bovidae (Artiodactyla, Ruminantia) and the importance of the fossil record to systematics |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=166 |bibcode=2013BMCEE..13..166B |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-13-166 |pmc=3751017 |pmid=23927069 |doi-access=free}} The Bos and Bison genetic lineages are estimated to have genetically diverged from the Bovini about {{mya|2.5|1.65}}.{{cite journal |author1=Wang, K. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Lenstra, J.A. |author3=Liu, L. |author4=Hu, Q. |author5=Ma, T. |author6=Qiu, Q. |author7=Liu, J. |year=2018 |title=Incomplete lineage sorting rather than hybridization explains the inconsistent phylogeny of the wisent |journal=Communications Biology |volume=1 |issue=1 |page=169 |doi=10.1038/s42003-018-0176-6 |pmid=30374461 |pmc=6195592 |doi-access=free}}{{cite journal |author1=Zeyland, J. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Wolko, Ł. |author3=Lipiński, D. |author4=Woźniak, A. |author5=Nowak, A. |author6=Szalata, M. |author7=Bocianowski, J. |author8=Słomski, R. |year=2012 |title=Tracking of wisent–bison–yak mitochondrial evolution |journal=Journal of Applied Genetics |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=317–322 |doi=10.1007/s13353-012-0090-4 |pmid=22415349 |pmc=3402669 |doi-access=free}} The following cladogram shows the phylogenetic relationships of the aurochs based on analysis of nuclear and mitochondrial genomes in the Bovini tribe:{{cite journal |last=Bibi |first=F. |title=A multi-calibrated mitochondrial phylogeny of extant Bovidae (Artiodactyla, Ruminantia) and the importance of the fossil record to systematics |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |date=2013 |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=166 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-13-166 |pmid=23927069 |pmc=3751017 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2013BMCEE..13..166B}}{{Cite journal |last1=Sinding |first1=M.-H. S. |last2=Ciucani |first2=M. M. |last3=Ramos-Madrigal |first3=J. |last4=Carmagnini |first4=A. |last5=Rasmussen |first5=J. A. |last6=Feng |first6=S. |last7=Chen |first7=G. |last8=Vieira |first8=F. G. |last9=Mattiangeli |first9=V. |last10=Ganjoo |first10=R. K. |last11=Larson |first11=G. |last12=Sicheritz-Pontén |first12=T. |last13=Petersen |first13=B. |last14=Frantz |first14=L. |last15=Gilbert |first15=M. T. P. |date=2021 |title=Kouprey (Bos sauveli) genomes unveil polytomic origin of wild Asian Bos |journal=iScience |volume=24 |issue=11 |pages=103226 |bibcode=2021iSci...24j3226S |doi=10.1016/j.isci.2021.103226 |pmc=8531564 |pmid=34712923}}

{{clade

|label1=Bovini

|1={{clade

|1=Bubalina (buffalo)

|label2=Bos

|2={{clade

|1= Bos primigenius (aurochs)

|2={{clade

|1={{clade

|1=Bos mutus (wild yak)

|2={{clade

|1=Bison bison (American bison)

|2=Bison bonasus (European bison/wisent)

}}}}

|2={{clade

|1=Bos javanicus (banteng)

|2=Bos gaurus (gaur)

|3=Bos sauveli (kouprey)

}}}}}}}}}}

The cold Pliocene climate caused an extension of open grassland, which enabled the evolution of large grazers.{{cite book |title=Retracing the Aurochs: History, Morphology and Ecology of an extinct wild Ox |last=Van Vuure, C. |year=2005 |location=Sofia |publisher=Pensoft Publishers |isbn=954-642-235-5}} The origin of the aurochs is unclear, with authors suggesting either an African or Asian origin for the species. Bos acutifrons is considered to be a possible ancestor of the aurochs, of which a fossil skull was excavated in the Sivalik Hills in India that dates to the Early Pleistocene about {{mya|2}}.{{cite journal |author1=Samartzidou, E. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Pandolfi, L. |year=2021 |title=Bos primigenius Bojanus, 1827 (Mammalia, Bovidae) in Greece: new finds and a revision of the species, with a comparison with body-size variations of aurochs from the Italian Peninsula |journal=Acta Zoologica Bulgarica |volume=74 |pages=119–139 |author3=Tsoukala, E. |author4=Maniatis, Y. |author5=Stoulos, S.}}

An aurochs skull excavated in Tunisia's Kef Governorate from early Middle Pleistocene strata dating about {{mya|0.78}} is the oldest well-dated fossil specimen to date. The authors of the study proposed that Bos might have evolved in Africa and migrated to Eurasia during the Middle Pleistocene.{{cite journal |author1=Martínez-Navarro, B.|name-list-style=amp |author2=Karoui-Yaakoub, N. |author3=Oms, O. |author4=Amri, L. |author5=López-García, J.M. |author6=Zerai, K. |author7=Blain, H.A. |author8=Mtimet, M.S. |author9=Espigares, M.P. |author10=Ali, N.B.H. |author11=Ros-Montoya, S. |author12=Boughdiri, M. |author13=Agustí J. |author14=Khayati-Ammar, H. |author15=Maalaoui K. |author16=El Khir, M.O. |author17=Sala, R. |author18=Othmani, A. |author19=Hawas, R. |author20=Gómez-Merino, G. |author21=Solè, À. |author22=Carbonell, E. |author23=Palmqvist, P. |year=2014 |title=The early Middle Pleistocene archeopaleontological site of Wadi Sarrat (Tunisia) and the earliest record of Bos primigenius |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=90 |pages=37–46 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.02.016|bibcode=2014QSRv...90...37M}} Middle Pleistocene aurochs fossils were also excavated in a Saharan erg in the Hoggar Mountains.{{cite book |last=Thomas |first=H. |title=Géologie et paléontologie du gisement acheuléen de l'erg Tihodaïne, Ahaggar Sahara Algérien |publisher=Memoires du centre de recherches anthlropologiques, prehistoriques et ethnographiques |year=1977 |location=Paris}}

Fossils of the Indian subspecies (Bos primigenius namadicus) were excavated in alluvial deposits in South India dating to the Middle Pleistocene.{{cite journal |last=Pilgrim |first=G.E. |year=1947 |title=The evolution of the buffaloes, oxen, sheep and goats |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=41 |issue=279 |pages=272–286 |doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.1940.tb02077.x}} Remains of aurochs are common in Late Pleistocene sites across the Indian subcontinent.

The earliest fossils in Europe date to the Middle Pleistocene. One site widely historically suggested to represent the first appearance of aurochs in Europe was the Notarchirico site in southern Italy, dating around 600,000 years ago,{{Cite journal |last1=Gómez-Olivencia |first1=Asier |last2=Sala |first2=Nohemi |last3=Arceredillo |first3=D. |last4=García |first4=N. |last5=Martínez-Pillado |first5=V. |last6=Rios-Garaizar |first6=J. |last7=Garate |first7=D. |last8=Solar |first8=G. |last9=Libano |first9=I. |date=2015 |title=The Punta Lucero Quarry site (Zierbena, Bizkaia): a window into the Middle Pleistocene in the Northern Iberian Peninsula |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=121 |pages=52–74 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.05.001|bibcode=2015QSRv..121...52G}} however a 2024 re-examination of the site found that presence of aurochs at the locality was unsupported, with the oldest records of aurochs now placed at the Ponte Molle site in central Italy,{{Cite journal |last1=Mecozzi |first1=B. |last2=Iannucci |first2=A. |last3=Carpentieri |first3=M. |last4=Pineda |first4=A. |last5=Rabinovich |first5=R. |last6=Sardella |first6=R. |last7=Moncel |first7=M.-H. |date=2024 |title=Climatic and environmental changes of ~100 thousand years: The mammals from the early Middle Pleistocene sequence of Notarchirico (southern Italy) |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=19 |issue=10 |pages=e0311623 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0311623 |pmc=11498728 |pmid=39441829 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2024PLoSO..1911623M }} dating to around 550-450,000 years ago.{{Cite journal |last1=Mecozzi |first1=B. |last2=Iannucci |first2=A. |last3=Mancini |first3=M. |last4=Sardella |first4=R. |date=2021 |title=Redefining Ponte Molle (Rome, central Italy): an important locality for Middle Pleistocene mammal assemblages of Europe |journal=Alpine and Mediterranean Quaternary |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=131–154 |doi=10.26382/AMQ.2021.09}} Aurochs were present in Britain by Marine Isotope Stage 11 ~400,000 years ago.{{Cite journal |last1=Preece |first1=R.C. |last2=Parfitt |first2=S.A. |last3=Bridgland |first3=D.R. |last4=Lewis |first4=S.G. |last5=Rowe |first5=P.J. |last6=Atkinson |first6=T.C. |last7=Candy |first7=I. |last8=Debenham |first8=N.C. |last9=Penkman |first9=K.E.H. |last10=Rhodes |first10=E.J. |last11=Schwenninger |first11=J.-L. |last12=Griffiths |first12=H.I. |last13=Whittaker |first13=J.E. |last14=Gleed-Owen |first14=C. |date=2007 |title=Terrestrial environments during MIS 11: evidence from the Palaeolithic site at West Stow, Suffolk, UK |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=26 |issue=9–10 |pages=1236–1300 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2006.11.016 |bibcode=2007QSRv...26.1236P}}

The earliest remains aurochs in East Asia are uncertain, but may date to the late Middle Pleistocene.{{cite journal |author1=Tong, H. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Chen, X. |year=2018 |title=New fossils of Bos primigenius (Artiodactyla, Mammalia) from Nihewan and Longhua of Hebei, China |journal=Vertebrata PalAsiatica |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=69–92 |author3=Zhang, B. |author4=Wang, F.}}

Late Pleistocene aurochs fossils were found in Affad 23 in Sudan dating to 50,000 years ago when the climate in this region was more humid than during the African humid period.{{cite journal |author1=Osypinska, M. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Osypinski, P. |author3=Belka, Z. |author4=Chlodnicki, M. |author5=Wiktorowicz, P. |author6=Ryndziewicz, R. |author7=Kubiak, M. |year=2021 |title=Wild and Domestic Cattle in the Ancient Nile Valley: Marks of ecological change |journal=Journal of Field Archaeology |volume=46 |issue=7 |pages=429–447 |doi=10.1080/00934690.2021.1924491 |s2cid=236373843}}

Following the most recent deglaciation, the range of the aurochs expanded into Denmark and southern Sweden at the beginning of the Holocene, around 12-11,000 years ago.{{cite journal |author1=Gravlund, P. |author2=Aaris-Sørensen, K. |author3=Hofreiter, M. |author4=Meyer, M. |author5=Bollback, J.P. |author6=Noe-Nygaard, N |name-list-style=amp |year=2012 |title=Ancient DNA extracted from Danish aurochs (Bos primigenius): genetic diversity and preservation |journal=Annals of Anatomy |volume=194 |issue=1 |pages=103–111 |citeseerx=10.1.1.392.4989 |doi=10.1016/j.aanat.2011.10.011 |pmid=22188739}}

{{multiple image

| perrow = 1

| image1 = Tur ZHerberstein pol XVIw small.jpg

| caption1 = Illustration by Sigismund von Herberstein captioned: {{lang|la|Urus sum, polonis Tur, germanis Aurox; ignari Bisontis nomen dederant}}; translated: "I am Urus, {{lang|pl|Tur}} in Polish, {{lang|de|Aurox}} in German; the ignorant ones gave me the name Bison"

| image2 = Copenhagen Zoological Museum Aurochs bull.jpg

| caption2 = Aurochs skeleton from Zealand island in Denmark on display in the Natural History Museum of Denmark

}}

According to a 16th-century description by Sigismund von Herberstein, the aurochs was pitch-black with a grey streak along the back; his wood carving made in 1556 was based on a culled aurochs, which he had received in Mazovia.{{cite journal |last=Senglaub, K. |year=2002 |title=Sigmund von Herberstein (1486–1566) und die historischen Konfusionen um Ur und Wisent |journal=Säugetierkundliche Informationen |volume=5 |issue=26 |pages=253–266 |doi= |url=https://www.zobodat.at/biografien/Herberstein_Sigmund_von_Saeugetierkdl-Inf_26_0253-0266.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.zobodat.at/biografien/Herberstein_Sigmund_von_Saeugetierkdl-Inf_26_0253-0266.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}} In 1827, Charles Hamilton Smith published an image of an aurochs that was based on an oil painting that he had purchased from a merchant in Augsburg, which is thought to have been made in the early 16th century.{{cite book |last=Lydekker, R. |author-link=Richard Lydekker |year=1912 |location=London |publisher=Methuen &Co. Ltd. |title=The ox and its kindred |pages=37–67 |chapter=The wild Ox and its extermination |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/oxitskindred00lyde/page/50/mode/2up}} This painting is thought to have shown an aurochs, although some authors suggested it may have shown a hybrid between an aurochs and domestic cattle, or a Polish steer.{{Cite journal |last1=Pyle |first1=C.M. |title=Update to: "Some late sixteenth-century depictions of the aurochs (Bos primigenius Bojanus, extinct 1627): New evidence from Vatican MS Urb. Lat. 276 |doi=10.3366/anh.1995.22.3.437 |journal=Archives of Natural History |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=437–438 |year=1995 |url=https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/anh.1995.22.3.437?src=recsys}} Contemporary reconstructions of the aurochs are based on skeletons and the information derived from contemporaneous artistic depictions and historic descriptions of the animal.

Remains of aurochs hair were not known until the early 1980s.{{Cite journal |last=Ryder, M.L. |doi=10.1016/0305-4403(84)90045-1 |title=The first hair remains from an aurochs (Bos primigenius) and some medieval domestic cattle hair |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |volume=11 |pages=99–101 |year=1984|issue=1 |bibcode=1984JArSc..11...99R }} Depictions show that the North African aurochs may have had a light saddle marking on its back.{{cite book |title=Der Auerochs: Das europäische Rind |first=W. |last=Frisch |year=2010 |isbn=978-3-00-026764-2 |publisher=Lipp Graphische Betriebe |place=Starnberg}} Calves were probably born with a chestnut colour, and young bulls changed to black with a white eel stripe running down the spine, while cows retained a reddish-brown colour. Both sexes had a light-coloured muzzle, but evidence for variation in coat colour does not exist. Egyptian grave paintings show cattle with a reddish-brown coat colour in both sexes, with a light saddle, but the horn shape of these suggest that they may depict domesticated cattle.

Many primitive cattle breeds, particularly those from Southern Europe, display similar coat colours to the aurochs, including the black colour in bulls with a light eel stripe, a pale mouth, and similar sexual dimorphism in colour. A feature often attributed to the aurochs is blond forehead hairs. According to historical descriptions of the aurochs, it had long and curly forehead hair, but none mentions a certain colour. Although the colour is present in a variety of primitive cattle breeds, it is probably a discolouration that appeared after domestication.

{{multiple image

| perrow = 1

| image1 = Aurochsfeatures.jpg

| caption1 = Drawing based on an aurochs bull skeleton from Lund and a cow skeleton from Cambridge, with characteristic features of the aurochs

| image2 = Indian Aurochs B p namadicus 3.jpg

| caption2 = Speculative profile of an Indian aurochs

}}

The proportions and body shape of the aurochs were strikingly different from many modern cattle breeds. For example, the legs were considerably longer and more slender, resulting in a shoulder height that nearly equalled the trunk length. The skull, carrying the large horns, was substantially larger and more elongated than in most cattle breeds. As in other wild bovines, the body shape of the aurochs was athletic, and especially in bulls, showed a strongly expressed neck and shoulder musculature. Therefore, the fore hand was larger than the rear, similar to the wisent, but unlike many domesticated cattle. Even in carrying cows, the udder was small and hardly visible from the side; this feature is equal to that of other wild bovines.

The aurochs was one of the largest herbivores in Holocene Europe. The size of an aurochs appears to have varied by region, with larger specimens in northern Europe than farther south. Aurochs in Denmark and Germany ranged in height at the shoulders between {{cvt|155|-|180|cm}} in bulls and {{cvt|135|-|155|cm}} in cows, while aurochs bulls in Hungary reached {{cvt|160|cm}}.{{cite journal |last=Kysely |first=R. |year=2008 |title=Aurochs and potential crossbreeding with domestic cattle in Central Europe in the Eneolithic period. A metric analysis of bones from the archaeological site of Kutná Hora-Denemark (Czech Republic) |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285784105 |journal=Anthropozoologica |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=7–37}}

The African aurochs was similar in size to the European aurochs in the Pleistocene, but declined in size during the transition to the Holocene; it may have also varied in size geographically.{{cite journal |last=Linseele, V. |year=2004 |title=Size and size change of the African aurochs during the Pleistocene and Holocene |journal=Journal of African Archaeology |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=165–185 |doi=10.3213/1612-1651-10026 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269674903}}

The body mass of aurochs appears to have shown some variability. Some individuals reached around {{cvt|700|kg|-1}}, whereas those from the late Middle Pleistocene are estimated to have weighed up to {{cvt|1500|kg|-1}}. The aurochs exhibited considerable sexual dimorphism in the size of males and females.{{cite journal |last=Van Vuure |first=T. |date=2002 |title=History, morphology and ecology of the Aurochs (Bos primigenius) |journal=Lutra |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=1–16 |citeseerx=10.1.1.534.6285 }}

The horns were massive, reaching {{cvt|80|cm}} in length and between {{cvt|10|and|20|cm}} in diameter. Its horns grew from the skull at a 60-degree angle to the muzzle facing forwards and were curved in three directions, namely upwards and outwards at the base, then swinging forwards and inwards, then inwards and upwards. The curvature of bull horns was more strongly expressed than horns of cows. The basal circumference of horn cores reached {{cvt|44.5|cm}} in the largest Chinese specimen and {{cvt|48|cm}} in a French specimen. Some cattle breeds still show horn shapes similar to that of the aurochs, such as the Spanish fighting bull, and occasionally also individuals of derived breeds.

A well-preserved aurochs bone yielded sufficient mitochondrial DNA for a sequence analysis in 2010, which showed that its genome consists of 16,338 base pairs.{{cite journal |author1=Edwards, C.J. |author2=Magee, D.A. |author3=Park, S.D.E. |author4=McGettigan, P.A. |author5=Lohan, A.J. |name-list-style=amp |year=2010 |title=A complete mitochondrial genome sequence from a mesolithic wild Aurochs (Bos primigenius) |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=5 |issue=2 |page=e9255 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0009255 |doi-access=free |pmid=20174668 |pmc=2822870 |bibcode=2010PLoSO...5.9255E}} Further studies using the aurochs whole genome sequence have identified candidate microRNA-regulated domestication genes.{{Cite journal |last1=Braud |first1=M. |last2=Magee|first2=D.A. |last3=Park |first3=S.D.E. |last4=Sonstegard |first4=T.S. |last5=Waters|first5=S.M. |last6=MacHugh |first6=D.E. |last7=Spillane|first7=C. |date=2017 |title=Genome-wide microRNA binding site variation between extinct wild Aurochs and modern cattle identifies candidate microRNA-regulated domestication genes |journal=Frontiers in Genetics |volume=8 |pages=3 |doi=10.3389/fgene.2017.00003 |pmc=5281612 |pmid=28197171 |doi-access=free |name-list-style=amp}} A comprehensive sequence analysis of Late Pleistocene and Holocene aurochs published in 2024 suggested that Indian aurochs (represented by modern zebu cattle) were the most genetically divergent aurochs population, having diverged from other aurochs around 300–166,000 years ago, with other aurochs populations spanning Europe and the Middle East to East Asia sharing much more recent common ancestry within the last 100,000 years. Late Pleistocene European aurochs were found to have a small (~3%) ancestry component from a divergent lineage that split prior to the divergence of Indian and other aurochs, suggested to be residual from earlier European aurochs populations. Towards the end of the Late Pleistocene, European aurochs experienced considerable gene flow from Middle Eastern aurochs. European Holocene aurochs primarily descend from those that were present in the Iberian Peninsula during the Last Glacial Maximum, with the Holocene also seeing mixing between previously isolated aurochs populations.{{Cite journal |last1=Rossi |first1=C. |last2=Sinding |first2=M.-H.S. |last3=Mullin |first3=V.E. |last4=Scheu |first4=A. |last5=Erven |first5=J.A.M. |last6=Verdugo |first6=M.P. |last7=Daly |first7=K.G. |last8=Ciucani |first8=M.M. |last9=Mattiangeli |first9=V. |last10=Teasdale |first10=M.D. |last11=Diquelou |first11=D. |last12=Manin |first12=A. |last13=Bangsgaard |first13=P. |last14=Collins |first14=M. |last15=Lord |first15=T.C. |date=2024 |title=The genomic natural history of the aurochs |journal=Nature |volume=635 |issue=8037 |pages=136–141 |doi=10.1038/s41586-024-08112-6 |pmid=39478219|bibcode=2024Natur.635..136R }}

File:Aurochs Eemian landscape.jpg (130–115,000 years ago)]]

The aurochs was widely distributed in North Africa, Mesopotamia, and throughout Europe to the Pontic–Caspian steppe, Caucasus and Western Siberia in the west and to the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in the north.{{cite book |last=Heptner, V.G. |author2=Nasimovich, A.A. |author3=Bannikov, A.G. |name-list-style=amp |orig-year=1961 |year=1988 |title=Mlekopitajuščie Sovetskogo Soiuza. Moskva: Vysšaia Škola |trans-title=Mammals of the Soviet Union |volume=((Volume I. Artiodactyla and Perissodactyla)) |publisher=Smithsonian Institution and the National Science Foundation |location=Washington DC |chapter=Aurochs, primitive cattle |pages=539–549 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/mammalsofsovietu11988gept/page/538/mode/2up}}

Fossil horns attributed to the aurochs were found in Late Pleistocene deposits at an elevation of {{cvt|3400|m}} on the eastern margin of the Tibetan plateau close to the Heihe River in Zoigê County that date to about 26,620{{Thinsp}}±600 years BP. Most fossils in China were found in plains below {{cvt|1000|m}} in Heilongjiang, Yushu, Jilin, northeastern Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, near Beijing, Yangyuan County in Hebei province, Datong and Dingcun in Shanxi province, Huan County in Gansu and in Guizhou provinces.{{cite journal |last=Zong |first=G. |date=1984 |title=A record of Bos primigenius from the Quaternary of the Aba Tibetan Autonomous Region |translator=Dehut, J. |journal=Vertebrata PalAsiatica |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=239–245 |url=http://www.nau.edu/~qsp/will_downs/79.Bos.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927083310/http://www.nau.edu/~qsp/will_downs/79.Bos.pdf |archive-date=27 September 2007}} Ancient DNA in aurochs fossils found in Northeast China indicate that the aurochs survived in the region until at least 5,000 years BP.{{cite journal |author1=Cai, D. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Zhang, N. |author3=Zhu, S. |author4=Chen, Q. |author5=Wang, L. |author6=Zhao, X. |author7=Ma, X. |author8=Royle, T.C. |author9=Zhou, H. |author10=Yang, D.Y. |year=2018 |title=Ancient DNA reveals evidence of abundant aurochs (Bos primigenius) in Neolithic Northeast China |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |volume=98 |pages=72–80 |doi=10.1016/j.jas.2018.08.003 |bibcode=2018JArSc..98...72C |s2cid=135295723 |url=http://bjkg.jlu.edu.cn/__local/D/E8/49/0A08A3ED3FED16810A705CC375D_1229B3A5_1C46BE.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://bjkg.jlu.edu.cn/__local/D/E8/49/0A08A3ED3FED16810A705CC375D_1229B3A5_1C46BE.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}} Fossils were also excavated on the Korean Peninsula,{{cite book |last=Jo, Y.-S. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Baccus, J.T. |author3=Koprowski, J. |year=2018 |title=Mammals of Korea |location=Seoul |publisher=Magnolia Press |isbn=978-89-6811-369-7 |chapter= |chapter-url=}} and in the Japanese archipelago.{{cite journal |last=Kurosawa, Y. |pages=29–31 |journal=LIAJ |issue=109 |title=モノが語る牛と人間の文化 - ② 岩手の牛たち |url=http://liaj.lin.gr.jp/japanese/liajnews/liaj10909.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://liaj.lin.gr.jp/japanese/liajnews/liaj10909.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |access-date=6 April 2016}}{{cite journal |author1=Hasegawa, Y. |author2=Okumura, Y. |author3=Tatsukawa, H. |name-list-style=amp |year=2009 |title=First record of Late Pleistocene Bison from the fissure deposits of the Kuzuu Limestone, Yamasuge, Sano-shi, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan |journal=Bulletin of Gunma Museum of Natural History |issue=13 |pages=47–52 |url=http://www.gmnh.pref.gunma.jp/research/no_13/bulletin13_5.pdf |access-date=6 April 2016 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924022657/http://www.gmnh.pref.gunma.jp/research/no_13/bulletin13_5.pdf |url-status=dead}}

During warm interglacial periods the aurochs was widespread across Europe, but during glacial periods retreated into southern refugia in the Iberian, Italian and Balkan peninsulas.

Landscapes in Europe probably consisted of dense forests throughout much of the last few thousand years. The aurochs is likely to have used riparian forests and wetlands along lakes. Analysis of specimens found in Britain suggests that aurochs preferred inhabiting low lying relatively flat landscapes.{{Cite journal |last=Hall |first=S.J.G. |date=2008 |title=A comparative analysis of the habitat of the extinct aurochs and other prehistoric mammals in Britain |journal=Ecography |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=187–190 |doi=10.1111/j.0906-7590.2008.5193.x |bibcode=2008Ecogr..31..187H}} Pollen of mostly small shrubs found in fossiliferous sediments with aurochs remains in China indicate that it preferred temperate grassy plains or grasslands bordering woodlands. It may have also lived in open grasslands.{{cite journal |title=Die Großtierfauna Europas und ihr Einfluss auf Vegetation und Landschaft |first=A. |last=Beutler |year=1996 |journal=Natur und Kulturlandschaft |volume=1 |pages=51–106}} In the warm Atlantic period of the Holocene, it was restricted to remaining open country and forest margins, where competition with livestock and humans gradually increased leading to a successive decline of the aurochs.{{cite journal |last1=Schulz |first1=E. |last2=Kaiser |first2=T.M. |name-list-style=amp |year=2007 |title=Feeding strategy of the Urus Bos primigenius Bojanus, 1827 from the Holocene of Denmark |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233781003 |journal=Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg |volume=259 |pages=155–164}}

File:Middle_Pleistocene_landscape_in_Manzanares_valley.png (foreground) wild horse (left), the straight-tusked elephant (background centre-left), bison, (background centre) and the narrow-nosed rhinoceros (far right)]]

Aurochs formed small herds mainly in winter, but typically lived singly or in smaller groups during the summer. If aurochs had social behaviour similar to their descendants, social status would have been gained through displays and fights, in which both cows and bulls engaged. Since it has a hypsodont jaw, it has been suggested to have been a grazer, with a food selection very similar to domesticated cattle feeding on grass, twigs and acorns. Mesowear analysis of Holocene Danish aurochs premolar teeth indicates that it changed from an abrasion-dominated grazer in the Danish Preboreal to a mixed feeder in the Boreal, Atlantic and Subboreal periods. Dental microwear and mesowear analysis of specimens from the Pleistocene of Britain has found these aurochs had mixed feeding to browsing diets, rather than being strict grazers.{{Cite journal |last1=Rivals |first1=F. |last2=Lister |first2=A.M. |date=2016 |title=Dietary flexibility and niche partitioning of large herbivores through the Pleistocene of Britain |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=146 |pages=116–133 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.06.007 |bibcode=2016QSRv..146..116R}}

Mating season was in September, and calves were born in spring. Rutting bulls had violent fights, and evidence from the Jaktorów forest shows that they were fully capable of mortally wounding one another. In autumn, aurochs fed for the winter, gaining weight and possessing a shinier coat than during the rest of the year. Calves stayed with their mothers until they were strong enough to join and keep up with the herd on the feeding grounds. Aurochs calves would have been vulnerable to predation by grey wolves (Canis lupus) and brown bears (Ursus arctos), while the immense size and strength of healthy adult aurochs meant they likely did not need to fear most predators. According to historical descriptions, the aurochs was swift despite its build, could be very aggressive if provoked, and was not generally fearful of humans. In Middle Pleistocene Europe, aurochs were likely predated upon by the "European jaguar" Panthera gombaszoegensis and the scimitar toothed-cat (Homotherium latidens),{{Cite journal |last1=Domingo |first1=L. |last2=Rodríguez-Gómez |first2=G. |last3=Libano |first3=I. |last4=Gómez-Olivencia |first4=A. |date=2017 |title=New insights into the Middle Pleistocene paleoecology and paleoenvironment of the Northern Iberian Peninsula (Punta Lucero Quarry site, Biscay): A combined approach using mammalian stable isotope analysis and trophic resource availability modeling |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=169 |pages=243–262 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.06.008 |bibcode=2017QSRv..169..243D}} with evidence for the consumption of aurochs by cave hyenas (Crocuta (Crocuta) spelaea) having been found from Late Pleistocene Italy.{{Cite journal |last1=Crezzini |first1=J. |last2=Boscato |first2=P. |last3=Ricci |first3=S. |last4=Ronchitelli |first4=A. |last5=Spagnolo |first5=V. |last6=Boschin |first6=F. |date=2016 |title=A spotted hyaena den in the Middle Palaeolithic of Grotta Paglicci (Gargano promontory, Apulia, Southern Italy) |journal=Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=227–240 |doi=10.1007/s12520-015-0273-0 |bibcode=2016ArAnS...8..227C}} The lion (Panthera leo), tiger (Panthera tigris) and wolf are thought to have been the aurochs main predators during the Holocene.

During interglacial periods in the Middle Pleistocene and early Late Pleistocene in Europe, the aurochs occurred alongside other large temperate adapted megafauna species, including the straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus), Merck's rhinoceros (Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis), the narrow-nosed rhinoceros, (Stephanorhinus hemitoechus) and the Irish elk/giant deer (Megaloceros giganteus).{{Cite journal |last=Pushkina |first=D. |date=2007 |title=The Pleistocene easternmost distribution in Eurasia of the species associated with the Eemian Palaeoloxodon antiquus assemblage |journal=Mammal Review |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=224–245 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2907.2007.00109.x|bibcode=2007MamRv..37..224P }}

{{multiple image |perrow=1 |image1=Unicorn_with_object._Mohenjo-daro.jpg |caption1=Seal from Mohenjo-daro |image2=Berlín_-_Pergamon_-_Porta_d%27Ishtar_-_Ur.JPG |caption2=Relief on the Ishtar Gate on display at the Pergamon Museum}}

Acheulean layers in Hunasagi on India's southern Deccan Plateau yielded aurochs bones with cut marks.{{cite journal |author1=Sathe, V. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Paddayya, K. |year=2012 |title=The faunal background of the stone age cultures of Hunsgi and Baichbal Valleys, Southern Deccan |journal=Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute |volume=72 |pages=79–97 |jstor=43610690}} An aurochs bone with cut marks induced with flint was found in a Middle Paleolithic layer at the Nesher Ramla Homo site in Israel; it was dated to Marine Isotope Stage 5 about 120,000 years ago.{{cite journal |author1=Prévost, M. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Groman-Yaroslavski, I. |author3=Gershtein, K.M.C. |author4=Tejero, J.M. |author5=Zaidner, Y. |year=2021 |title=Early evidence for symbolic behavior in the Levantine Middle Paleolithic: A 120 ka old engraved aurochs bone shaft from the open-air site of Nesher Ramla, Israel |journal=Quaternary International |volume=early view |issue= |pages= 80–93 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2021.01.002 |s2cid=234236699}} An archaeological excavation in Israel found traces of a feast held by the Natufian culture around 12,000 years BP, in which three aurochs were eaten. This appears to be an uncommon occurrence in the culture and was held in conjunction with the burial of an older woman, presumably of some social status.{{cite journal |last1=Munro |first1=N.D. |last2=Grosman |first2=L. |date=2010 |title=Early evidence (ca. 12,000 B.P.) for feasting at a burial cave in Israel |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=107 |issue=35 |pages=15362–15366 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1001809107 |pmid=20805510 |pmc=2932561 |bibcode=2010PNAS..10715362M |doi-access=free |name-list-style=amp}} Petroglyphs depicting aurochs in Gobustan Rock Art in Azerbaijan date to the Upper Paleolithic to Neolithic periods.{{cite journal |last=Farajova |first=M. |year=2011 |title=Gobustan: Rock Art Cultural Landscape |url=https://www.rockartscandinavia.com/images/articles/malahat_a11.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Adoranten |volume=11 |pages=41–66 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.rockartscandinavia.com/images/articles/malahat_a11.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09}}

Aurochs bones and skulls found at the settlements of Mureybet, Hallan Çemi and Çayönü indicate that people stored and shared food in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B culture.{{cite journal |author1=Bogaard, A. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Charles, M. |author3=Twiss, K.C. |author4=Fairbairn, A. |author5=Yalman, N. |author6=Filipović, D. |author7=Demirergi, G.A. |author8=Ertuğ, F. |author9=Russell, N. |author10=Henecke, J. |year=2009 |title=Private pantries and celebrated surplus: storing and sharing food at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Central Anatolia |journal=Antiquity |volume=83 |issue=321 |pages=649–668 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00098896 |s2cid=162522860 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236673285}}

Remains of an aurochs were also found in a necropolis in Sidon, Lebanon, dating to around 3,700 years BP; the aurochs was buried together with numerous animals, a few human bones and foods.{{cite news |last=Makarem |first=M. |date=2012 |title=Et si Europe était sidonienne? |work=L'Orient Le Jour |location=Beirut |url=http://www.lorientlejour.com/category/À+La+Une/article/767714/Et_si_Europe_etait_sidonienne_.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130525112335/http://www.lorientlejour.com/category/%C3%80+La+Une/article/767714/Et_si_Europe_etait_sidonienne_.html |archive-date=25 May 2013 |access-date=3 January 2020 |language=fr}}

Seals dating to the Indus Valley civilisation found in Harappa and Mohenjo-daro show an animal with curved horns like an aurochs.{{cite book |last=Mackay |first=E.J.H. |author-link=Ernest J. H. Mackay |title=The Indus civilization |publisher=Lovat Dickson & Thompson Ltd. |year=1935 |location=London |page=Plate J |chapter=Steatite pectoral, once mounted in metal and filled with inlay |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.22579/page/n229/mode/2up}}{{cite book |last=Geer |first=A.A.E. |title=Animals in stone: Indian mammals sculptured through time |publisher=Brill |year=2008 |isbn=978-90-04-16819-0 |location=Leiden |pages=111–114 |chapter=Bos primigenius. The Aurochs |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ3quxh9gsgC&pg=PA111}} Aurochs figurines were made by the Maykop culture in the Western Caucasus.{{cite book |author1=Reinhold, S. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Gresky, J. |author3=Berezina, N. |author4=Kantorovich, A.R. |author5=Knipper, C. |author6=Maslov, V.E. |author7=Petrenko, V.G. |author8=Alt, K.W. |author9=Belinsky, A.B. |year=2017 |title=Appropriating Innovations. Entangled Knowledge in Eurasia, 5000-150 BCE |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxbow Books |chapter=Contextualising Innovation: Cattle Owners and Wagon Drivers in the North Caucasus and Beyond |isbn=9781785707247 |editor1=Maran, J. |editor2=Stockhammer, P. |pages=78–97 |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321300884}}

The aurochs is denoted in the Akkadian words rīmu and rēmu, both used in the context of hunts by rulers such as Naram-Sin of Akkad, Tiglath-Pileser I and Shalmaneser III; in Mesopotamia, it symbolised power and sexual potency, was an epithet of the gods Enlil and Shamash, denoted prowess as an epithet of the king Sennacherib and the hero Gilgamesh. Wild bulls are frequently referred to in Ugaritic texts as hunted by and sacrificed to the god Baal.{{cite book |author1=Wyatt, S. |author2=Wyatt, N. |name-list-style=amp |date=2013 |chapter=The longue durée in the beef business |pages=417–450 |title=Ritual, Religion, and Reason. Studies in the Ancient World in Honour of Paolo Xella |isbn=9783868350876 |publisher=Ugarit-Verlag |location=Münster |editor1=Loretz, O. |editor2=Ribichini, S. |editor3= Watson, W.G.E. |editor4=Zamora, J.Á. |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/4038225}} An aurochs is depicted on Babylon's Ishtar Gate, constructed in the 6th century BC.{{Cite book |last=Shugart, H.H. |date=2014 |title=Foundations of the Earth |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=9780231537698 |chapter=Taming the Unicorn, Yoking the Aurochs: Animal and Plant Domestication and the Consequent Alteration of the Surface of the Earth |pages=35–70 |doi=10.7312/shug16908-003}}

Petroglyphs depicting aurochs found in Qurta in the upper Nile valley were dated to the Late Pleistocene about 19–15,000 years BP using luminescence dating and are the oldest engravings found to date in Africa.{{cite journal |author1=Huyge, D. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Vandenberghe, D.A. |author3=De Dapper, M. |author4=Mees, F. |author5=Claes, W. |author6=Darnell, J.C. |year=2011 |title=First evidence of Pleistocene rock art in North Africa: securing the age of the Qurta petroglyphs (Egypt) through OSL dating |journal=Antiquity |volume=85 |issue=330 |pages=1184–1193 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00061998 |s2cid=130471822 |url=https://www.academia.edu/1621581}} Aurochs are part of hunting scenes in reliefs in a tomb at Thebes, Egypt dating to the 20th century BC, and in the mortuary temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu dating to around 1175 BC. The latter is the youngest depiction of aurochs in Ancient Egyptian art to date.{{cite journal |last=Beierkuhnlein, C. |year=2015 |title=Bos primigenius in Ancient Egyptian art – historical evidence for the continuity of occurrence and ecology of an extinct key species |journal=Frontiers of Biogeography |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=107–118 |doi=10.21425/F5FBG21527 |s2cid=55643283 |url=https://epub.uni-bayreuth.de/3177/1/eScholarship%20UC%20item%202cc00316.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://epub.uni-bayreuth.de/3177/1/eScholarship%20UC%20item%202cc00316.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}}

{{multiple image |perrow=1 |image1=Lascaux painting.jpg |caption1=Aurochs in a cave painting in Lascaux |image2=Gold cup Vafio 1500 to 1450 BC, NAMA 1758 080866.jpg |caption2=A cup from Vaphio showing an aurochs hunt, 15th century BC|image3=Moldavia's coat of Arms of 1481.jpg |caption3=Coat of arms of Moldavia from 1481 at Putna Monastery}}

Evidence has been found for the butchery of aurochs by archaic hominins in Europe during the Middle Palaeolithic, such as the Biache-Saint-Vaast site in northern France dating to around 240,000 years ago, where bones of aurochs have been found burnt by fire and with cut marks, thought to have been created by Neanderthals.{{Cite journal |last1=Bahain |first1=J.-J. |last2=Falguères |first2=C. |last3=Laurent |first3=M. |last4=Dolo |first4=J.-M. |last5=Shao |first5=Q. |last6=Auguste |first6=P. |last7=Tuffreau |first7=A. |date=2015 |title=ESR/U-series dating of faunal remains from the paleoanthropological site of Biache-Saint-Vaast (Pas-de-Calais, France) |journal=Quaternary Geochronology |volume=30 |pages=541–546 |doi=10.1016/j.quageo.2015.02.020 |bibcode=2015QuGeo..30..541B }}{{Cite journal |last1=Hérisson |first1=D. |last2=Locht |first2=J.-L. |last3=Auguste |first3=P. |last4=Tuffreau |first4=A. |date=2013 |title=Néandertal et le feu au Paléolithique moyen ancien. Tour d'horizon des traces de son utilisation dans le Nord de la France |journal=L'Anthropologie |language=fr |volume=117 |issue=5 |pages=541–578 |doi=10.1016/j.anthro.2013.10.002|url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01484022/file/Herisson_et_al_%202013_Feu_Saalien.pdf }} At the late Middle Palaeolithic Cueva Des-Cubierta site in Spain, Neanderthals are proposed to have kept the skulls of aurochs as hunting trophies.{{Cite journal |last1=Baquedano |first1=E. |last2=Arsuaga |first2=J. L. |last3=Pérez-González |first3=A. |last4=Laplana |first4=C. |last5=Márquez |first5=B. |last6=Huguet |first6=R. |last7=Gómez-Soler |first7=S. |last8=Villaescusa |first8=L. |last9=Galindo-Pellicena |first9=M. Ángeles |last10=Rodríguez |first10=Laura |last11=García-González |first11=R. |last12=Ortega |first12=M.-C. |last13=Martín-Perea |first13=D. M. |last14=Ortega |first14=A. I. |last15=Hernández-Vivanco |first15=L. |date=2023 |title=A symbolic Neanderthal accumulation of large herbivore crania |journal=Nature Human Behaviour |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=342–352 |doi=10.1038/s41562-022-01503-7 |pmc=10038806 |pmid=36702939}}

The aurochs is widely represented in Upper Paleolithic cave paintings in the Chauvet and Lascaux caves in southern France dating to 36,000 and 21,000 years BP, respectively.{{cite journal |last=Geneste, J.M.|year=2017 |title=From Chauvet to Lascaux: 15,000 years of cave art |journal=Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia |volume=45 |issue=3 |pages=29–40 |doi=10.17746/1563-0110.2017.45.3.029-040 |doi-access=free}}

Two Paleolithic rock engravings in the Calabrian Romito Cave depict an aurochs.{{cite journal |author1=Vacca, B.B. |year=2012 |title=The hunting of large mammals in the Upper Palaeolithic of southern Italy: A diachronic case study from Grotta del Romito |journal=Quaternary International |volume=252 |issue= |pages=155–164 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2011.06.054 |bibcode=2012QuInt.252..155V |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/251636438}}

Palaeolithic engravings showing aurochs were also found in the Grotta del Genovese on the Italian island of Levanzo.{{cite journal |author1=Di Maida, G. |name-list-style=amp |author2=García-Diez, M. |author3=Pastoors, A. |author4=Terberger, T. |year=2018 |title=Palaeolithic art at Grotta di Cala dei Genovesi, Sicily: a new chronology for mobiliary and parietal depictions |journal=Antiquity |volume=92 |issue=361 |pages=38–55 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2017.209 |s2cid=166147585 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323045060}}

Upper Paleolithic rock engravings and paintings depicting the aurochs were also found in caves on the Iberian Peninsula dating from the Gravettian to the Magdalenian cultures.{{cite book |last=Weniger, G.C. |year=1999 |title=Archäologie und Biologie des Aurochsen |location=Bonn |publisher=Neanderthal Museum |editor1=Weniger, G.C. |isbn=9783980583961 |pages=133–140 |chapter=Representations of the Aurochs in the Upper Palaeolithic and Epipalaeolithic on the Iberian Peninsula |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271588425}}{{cite book |last=Fernandes, A.P.B. |year=2008 |chapter=Aesthetics, ethics, and rock art conservation: How far can we go? The case of recent conservation tests carried out in un-engraved outcrops in the Côa Valley, Portugal |chapter-url=http://openarchive.icomos.org/id/eprint/945/1/11_Batarda_Fernandes_offprint.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://openarchive.icomos.org/id/eprint/945/1/11_Batarda_Fernandes_offprint.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |pages=85–92 |title=Aesthetics and Rock Art III: Symposium |editor1=Heyd, T. |editor2=Clegg, J. |publisher=Archaeopress |series=British Archaeological Reports |volume=1818 |location=Oxford |isbn=9781407303048}}{{cite journal |author1=Soares De Figueiredo, S. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Botica, N. |author3=Bueno Ramirez, P. |author4=Tsoupra, A. |author5=Mirao, J. |year=2020 |title=Analysis of portable rock art from Foz do Medal (Northwest Iberia): Magdalenian images of horses and aurochs |journal=Comptes Rendus Palevol |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=63–77 |doi=10.5852/cr-palevol2020v19a4 |doi-access=free}}

Aurochs bones with chop and cut marks were found at various Mesolithic hunting and butchering sites in France, Luxemburg, Germany, the Netherlands, England and Denmark.{{cite journal |author1=Prummel, W. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Niekus, M.J.L.T. |year=2011 |title=Late Mesolithic hunting of a small female aurochs in the valley of the River Tjonger (the Netherlands) in the light of Mesolithic aurochs hunting in NW Europe |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |volume=38 |issue=7 |pages=1456–1467 |doi=10.1016/j.jas.2011.02.009|bibcode=2011JArSc..38.1456P}} Aurochs bones were also found in Mesolithic settlements by the Narva and Emajõgi rivers in Estonia.{{cite journal |last=Kriiska, A. |year=2000 |title=Settlements of coastal Estonia and maritime hunter-gatherer economy |journal=Lietuvos Archeologija |volume=19 |pages=153–166 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281345662}} Aurochs and human bones were uncovered from pits and burnt mounds at several Neolithic sites in England.{{cite journal |title=Where the wild things are: Aurochs and Cattle in England |last=Lynch, A.H. |author2=Hamilton, J. |author3=Hedges, R.E.M. |name-list-style=amp |year=2008 |journal=Antiquity |volume=82 |issue=318 |pages=1025–1039 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00097751 |s2cid=161079743 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237086645}}

A cup found in the Greek site of Vaphio shows a hunting scene, in which people try to capture an aurochs.{{cite journal |last1=Ajmone-Marsan |first1=P. |last2=Garcia |first2=J.F. |last3=Lenstra |first3=J.A. |year=2010 |title=On the origin of cattle: How Aurochs became cattle and colonized the World |journal=Evolutionary Anthropology |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=148–157 |doi=10.1002/evan.20267 |s2cid=86035650 |name-list-style=amp}} One of the bulls throws one hunter on the ground while attacking the second with its horns. The cup seems to date to Mycenaean Greece.{{cite journal |last1=Davis |first1=E.N. |year=1974 |title=The Vapheio Cups: One Minoan and One Mycenean? |journal=The Art Bulletin |volume=56 |issue=4 |pages=472–487 |doi=10.1080/00043079.1974.10789932}}{{cite journal |last1=De Grummond |first1=W.W. |year=1980 |title=Hands and Tails on the Vapheio Cups |journal=American Journal of Archaeology |volume=84 |issue=3 |pages=335–337 |doi=10.2307/504710 |jstor=504710}} Greeks and Paeonians hunted aurochs and used their huge horns as trophies, cups for wine, and offerings to the gods and heroes. The ox mentioned by Samus, Philippus of Thessalonica and Antipater as killed by Philip V of Macedon on the foothills of mountain Orvilos, was actually an aurochs; Philip offered the horns, which were {{cvt|105|cm}} long and the skin to a temple of Hercules.{{cite book |last=Douglas, N. |year=1927 |title=Birds and Beasts of the Greek Anthology |location=Florence |publisher=B. Blom |chapter= |chapter-url= |isbn=9780405084614}}

The aurochs was described in Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico.

Aurochs were occasionally captured and exhibited in venatio shows in Roman amphitheatres such as the Colosseum.{{cite book |last=Knight, C. |year=1847 |title=The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge |volume=(Volume III) |location=London |publisher=Little, Brown and Co. |chapter=European bison, or Aurochs |pages=367–371 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sa7kjXr-SkAC&pg=PA369}} Aurochs horns were often used by Romans as hunting horns.

In the {{lang|de|Nibelungenlied}}, Sigurd kills four aurochs.{{cite book |title=Das Nibelungenlied und die Klage: Nach der Handschrift 857 der Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen |editor=Heinzle, J. |publisher=Deutscher Klassiker Verlag |isbn=9783618661207 |year=2013 |page=300}} During the Middle Ages, aurochs horns were used as drinking horns including the horn of the last bull; many aurochs horn sheaths are preserved today.{{Cite journal |author1=Bro-Jørgensen, M.H. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Carøe, C. |author3=Vieira, F.G. |author4=Nestor, S. |author5=Hallström, A. |author6=Gregersen, K.M. |author7=Etting, V. |author8=Gilbert, M.T.P. |author9=Sinding, M.H.S. |year=2018 |title=Ancient DNA analysis of Scandinavian medieval drinking horns and the horn of the last aurochs bull |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |volume=99 |pages=47–54 |doi=10.1016/j.jas.2018.09.001 |bibcode=2018JArSc..99...47B |s2cid=133684586}} The aurochs drinking horn at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge was engraved with the college's coat of arms in the 17th century.{{cite journal |last=Oman, C. |title=Cambridge and Cornelimünster |journal=Aachener Kunstblätter |volume=43 |pages=305–307 |date=1972 |url=https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/akb/article/download/39767/33430}}

An aurochs head with a star between its horns and Christian iconographic elements represents the official coat of arms of Moldavia perpetuated for centuries.{{cite journal |last=Boutiuc, M. |author2=Florescu, O. |name-list-style=amp |author3=Vasilache, V. |author4=Sandu, I. |year=2020 |title=The comparative study of the state of conservation of two medieval documents on parchment from different historical periods |journal=Materials |volume=13 |issue=21 |page=4766 |doi=10.3390/ma13214766 |pmid=33114524 |pmc=7662666 |bibcode=2020Mate...13.4766H |doi-access=free}}

Aurochs were hunted with arrows, nets and hunting dogs, and its hair on the forehead was cut from the living animal; belts were made out of this hair and believed to increase the fertility of women. When the aurochs was slaughtered, the os cordis was extracted from the heart; this bone contributed to the mystique and magical powers that were attributed to it.

In eastern Europe, the aurochs has left traces in expressions like "behaving like an aurochs" for a drunken person behaving badly, and "a bloke like an aurochs" for big and strong people.

The earliest-known domestication of the aurochs dates to the Neolithic Revolution in the Fertile Crescent, where cattle hunted and kept by Neolithic farmers gradually decreased in size between 9800 and 7500 BC. Aurochs bones found at Mureybet and Göbekli Tepe are larger in size than cattle bones from later Neolithic settlements in northern Syria like Dja'de el-Mughara and Tell Halula.{{cite book |last=Helmer, D. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Gourichon, L. |author3=Monchot, H. |author4=Peters, J. |author5=Segui, M.S. |year=2005 |title=The first steps of animal domestication: new archeological approaches |chapter=Identifying early domestic cattle from pre-pottery Neolithic sites on the Middle Euphrates using sexual dimorphism |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxbow Books |isbn=1-84217-121-6 |editor1=Vigne, J.D. |editor2=Peters, J. |editor3=Helmer, D. |pages=86–95 |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235341120}}

In Late Neolithic sites of northern Iraq and western Iran dating to the sixth millennium BC, cattle remains are also smaller but more frequent, indicating that domesticated cattle were imported during the Halaf culture from the central Fertile Crescent region.{{cite journal |author1=Arbuckle, B.S. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Price, M.D. |author3=Hongo, H. |author4=Öksüz, B. |year=2016 |title=Documenting the initial appearance of domestic cattle in the Eastern Fertile Crescent (northern Iraq and western Iran) |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |volume=72 |pages=1–9 |doi=10.1016/j.jas.2016.05.008 |bibcode=2016JArSc..72....1A |s2cid=85441215 |url=https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/maxprice/files/arbuckle_2016_cattle.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/maxprice/files/arbuckle_2016_cattle.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}}

Results of genetic research indicate that the modern taurine cattle (Bos taurus) arose from 80 aurochs tamed in southeastern Anatolia and northern Syria about 10,500 years ago.

Taurine cattle spread into the Balkans and northern Italy along the Danube River and the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.{{cite journal |author1=Pitt, D. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Sevane, N. |author3=Nicolazzi, E.L. |author4=MacHugh, D.E. |author5=Park, S.D. |author6=Colli, L. |author7=Martinez, R. |author8=Bruford, M.W. |author9=Orozco-terWengel, P. |year=2019 |title=Domestication of cattle: Two or three events? |journal=Evolutionary Applications |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=123–136 |doi=10.1111/eva.12674 |pmid=30622640 |pmc=6304694 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2019EvApp..12..123P }}

Hybridisation between male aurochs and early domestic cattle occurred in central Europe between 9500 and 1000 BC.{{cite journal |author1=Götherström, A. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Anderung, C. |author3=Hellborg, L. |author4=Elburg, R. |author5=Smith, C. |author6=Bradley, D.G. |author7=Ellegren, H. |year=2005 |title=Cattle domestication in the Near East was followed by hybridization with aurochs bulls in Europe |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=272 |issue=1579 |pages=2345–2351 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2005.3243 |doi-access=free |pmid=16243693 |pmc=1559968}}

Analyses of mitochondrial DNA sequences of Italian aurochs specimens dated to 17–7,000 years ago and 51 modern cattle breeds revealed some degree of introgression of aurochs genes into south European cattle, indicating that female aurochs had contact with free-ranging domestic cattle.{{cite journal |last1=Beja-Pereira |first1=A. |last2=Caramelli |first2=D. |last3=Lalueza-Fox |first3=C. |last4=Vernesi |first4=C. |last5=Ferrand |first5=N. |last6=Casoli |first6=A. |last7=Goyache |first7=F. |last8=Royo |first8=L.J. |last9=Conti |first9=S. |last10=Lari |first10=M. |last11=Martini |first11=A. |last12=Ouragh |first12=L. |last13=Magid |first13=A. |last14=Atash |first14=A. |last15=Zsolnai |first15=A. |last16=Boscato |first16=P. |last17=Triantaphylidis |first17=C. |last18=Ploumi |first18=K. |last19=Sineo |first19=L. |last20=Mallegni |first20=F. |last21=Taberlet |first21=P. |last22=Erhardt |first22=G. |last23=Sampietro |first23=L. |last24=Bertranpetit |first24=J. |last25=Barbujani |first25=G. |last26=Luikart |first26=G. |last27=Bertorelle |first27=G. |date=2006 |title=The origin of European cattle: Evidence from modern and ancient DNA |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=103 |issue=21 |pages=8113–8118 |pmid=16690747 |pmc=1472438 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0509210103 |bibcode=2006PNAS..103.8113B |doi-access=free |name-list-style=amp}} Cattle bones of various sizes found at a Chalcolithic settlement in the Kutná Hora District provide further evidence for hybridisation of aurochs and domestic cattle between 3000 and 2800 BC in the Bohemian region.

Whole genome sequencing of a 6,750-year-old aurochs bone found in England was compared with genome sequence data of 81 cattle and single-nucleotide polymorphism data of 1,225 cattle. Results revealed that British and Irish cattle breeds share some genetic variants with the aurochs specimen; early herders in Britain might have been responsible for the local gene flow from aurochs into the ancestors of British and Irish cattle.{{cite journal |author1=Park, S.D.E. |author2=Magee, D.A. |author3=McGettigan, P.A. |author4=Teasdale, M.D.|author5=Edwards, C.J. |author6=Lohan, A.J. |author7=Murphy, A. |author8=Braud, M. |author9=Donoghue, M.T. |author10=Liu, Y. |author11=Chamberlain, A.T.|author12=Rue-Albrecht, K. |author13=Schroeder, S. |author14=Spillane, C. |author15=Tai, S. |author16=Bradley, D.G. |author17=Sonstegard, T.S. |author18=Loftus, B.J. |author19=MacHugh, D.E. |title=Genome sequencing of the extinct Eurasian wild aurochs, Bos primigenius, illuminates the phylogeography and evolution of cattle |journal=Genome Biology |date=2015 |volume=16 |issue=1 |page=234 |doi=10.1186/s13059-015-0790-2 |pmid=26498365 |pmc=4620651 |name-list-style=amp |doi-access=free}} The Murboden cattle breed also exhibits sporadic introgression of female European aurochs into domestic cattle in the Alps.{{cite journal |author1=Cubric-Curik, V. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Novosel, D. |author3=Brajkovic, V. |author4=Rota Stabelli, O. |author5=Krebs, S. |author6=Sölkner, J. |author7=Šalamon, D. |author8=Ristov, S. |author9=Berger, B. |author10=Trivizaki, S. |author11=Bizelis, I. |author12=Ferenčaković, M. |author13=Rothammer, S. |author14=Kunz, E. |author15=Simčič, M. |author16=Dovč, P. |author17=Bunevski, G. |author18=Bytyqi, H. |author19=Marković, B. |author20=Brka, M. |author21=Kume, K. |author22=Stojanović, S. |author23=Nikolov, V. |author24=Zinovieva, N. |author25=Schönherz, A.A. |author26=Guldbrandtsen, B. |author27=Čačić, M. |author28=Radović, S. |author29=Miracle, P. |author30=Vernesi, C. |author31=Curik, I. |author32=Medugorac, I. |year=2021 |title=Large-scale mitogenome sequencing reveals consecutive expansions of domestic taurine cattle and supports sporadic Aurochs introgression |journal=Evolutionary Applications |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=663–678 |doi=10.1111/eva.13315 |pmid=35505892 |pmc=9046920 |doi-access=free}} Domestic cattle continued to diminish in both body and horn size until the Middle Ages.

Comparative analysis of single-nucleotide polymorphisms and shared alleles revealed admixture between East Asian aurochs and introduced taurine cattle in ancient China, for example at Shimao. This suggested the incorporation of local aurochs into domestic cattle as far back as 4,000 years BP, either through spontaneous introgression, or the capture of different aurochs groups to supplement domestic stocks. The same study detected derived alleles shared by aurochs and modern taurine cattle in East Asia, especially among Tibetan breeds. Introgression with local aurochs could have facilitated rapid adaptation to new environments.

The Indian aurochs is thought to have been domesticated 10,000–8,000 years ago.{{cite journal |last1=Bradley |first1=D.G. |last2=MacHugh |first2=D.E. |last3=Cunningham |first3=P. |last4=Loftus |first4=R.T. |name-list-style=amp |year=1996 |title=Mitochondrial diversity and the origins of African and European cattle |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=93 |issue=10 |pages=5131–5135 |doi=10.1073/pnas.93.10.5131 |pmid=8643540 |pmc=39419 |bibcode=1996PNAS...93.5131B |doi-access=free}}

Aurochs fossils found at the Neolithic site of Mehrgarh in Pakistan are dated to around 8,000 years BP and represent some of the earliest evidence for its domestication on the Indian subcontinent.{{cite journal |author1=Turvey, S.T. |author2=Sathe, V. |author3=Crees, J.J. |author4=Jukar, A.M. |author5=Chakraborty, P. |author6=Lister, A.M. |name-list-style=amp |year=2021 |title=Late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions in India: How much do we know? |url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10116065/17/Turvey_India_megafauna_paper_Nov2020_revised.pdf |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=252 |page=106740 |bibcode=2021QSRv..25206740T |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106740 |s2cid=234265221}} Female Indian aurochs contributed to the gene pool of zebu (Bos indicus) between 5,500 and 4,000 years BP during the expansion of pastoralism in northern India. The zebu initially spread eastwards to Southeast Asia.{{cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=S. |last2=Lin |first2=B.-Z. |last3=Baig |first3=M. |last4=Mitra |first4=B. |last5=Lopes |first5=R. J. |last6=Santos |first6=A. M. |last7=Magee |first7=D. A. |last8=Azevedo |first8=M. |last9=Tarroso |first9=P. |last10=Sasazaki |first10=S. |last11=Ostrowski |first11=S. |last12=Mahgoub |first12=O. |last13=Chaudhuri |first13=T. K. |last14=Zhang |first14=Y.-p. |last15=Costa |first15=V. |date=2010 |title=Zebu Cattle are an exclusive legacy of the South Asia Neolithic |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=1–6 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msp213 |pmid=19770222 |doi-access=free |last16=Royo |first16=L. J. |last17=Goyache |first17=F. |last18=Luikart |first18=G. |last19=Boivin |first19=N. |last20=Fuller |first20=D. Q. |last21=Mannen |first21=H. |last22=Bradley |first22=D. G. |last23=Beja-Pereira |first23=A.}}

Hybridisation between zebu and early taurine cattle occurred in the Near East after 4,000 years BP coinciding with the drought period during the 4.2-kiloyear event.{{cite journal |author1=Verdugo, M.P. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Mullin, V.E. |author3=Scheu, A. |author4=Mattiangeli, V. |author5=Daly, K.G. |author6=Delser, P.M. |author7=Hare, A.J. |author8=Burger, J. |author9=Collins, M.J. |author10=Kehati, R. |author11=Hesse, P. |year=2019 |title=Ancient cattle genomics, origins, and rapid turnover in the Fertile Crescent |journal=Science |volume=365 |issue=6449 |pages=173–176 |doi=10.1126/science.aav1002 |pmid=31296769 |bibcode=2019Sci...365..173V |s2cid=195894128 |url=https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/149232/1/Verdugo_Combined_for_resubmission_ACCEPTED_VERSION.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/149232/1/Verdugo_Combined_for_resubmission_ACCEPTED_VERSION.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}} The zebu was introduced to East Africa about 3,500–2,500 years ago, and reached Mongolia in the 13th and 14th centuries.{{cite journal |last=Mannen, H. |author2=Kohno, M. |name-list-style=amp |author3=Nagata, Y. |author4=Tsuji, S. |author5=Bradley, D.G. |author6=Yeo, J.S. |author7=Nyamsamba, D. |author8=Zagdsuren, Y. |author9=Yokohama, M. |author10=Nomura, K. |author11=Amano, T. |title=Independent mitochondrial origin and historical genetic differentiation in North Eastern Asian cattle |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=539–544 |date=2004 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2004.01.010 |pmid=15223036 |bibcode=2004MolPE..32..539M |url=http://webpages.icav.up.pt/ptdc/CVT/105223/2008/References%20for%20BigBos%20proposal%20[PTDC-CVT-105223-2008]/PDF%20files%20of%20references_max30%20[BigBos]/Mannen%20et%20al%202004_MPE-%20Independent%20origin%20of%20Northeastern%20Asian%20cattle.pdf |access-date=22 December 2021 |archive-date=5 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230305232344/http://webpages.icav.up.pt/ptdc/CVT/105223/2008/References%20for%20BigBos%20proposal%20%5BPTDC-CVT-105223-2008%5D/PDF%20files%20of%20references_max30%20%5BBigBos%5D/Mannen%20et%20al%202004_MPE-%20Independent%20origin%20of%20Northeastern%20Asian%20cattle.pdf |url-status=dead }}

A third domestication event thought to have occurred in Egypt's Western Desert is not supported by results of an analysis of genetic admixture, introgression and migration patterns of 3,196 domestic cattle representing 180 populations. However, the same study supported extensive hybridization between taurine cattle in Africa, arrived from the Near East after domestication, and local wild African aurochs prior to the entry of the zebu in Africa. The zebu was introduced through Ancient Egypt and started to spread comprehensively through West Africa in the last 1,400 years, along with Arabic cultural influences. Most modern African cattle breeds are hybridized to a variable extent with Indicine cattle, with introgression being most reduced in areas of West Africa where the tse-tse fly is present.{{cite web |url=http://www.fao.org/3/t1300t/t1300t0j.htm |title=Genetic characterization and West African cattle |first1=C. |last1=Meghen |first2=D.E. |last2=MacHugh |first3=D.G. |last3=Bradley |website=fao.org |access-date=20 September 2021 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226101512/http://www.fao.org:80/3/t1300t/t1300T0j.htm |archive-date=26 February 2019 }}

File:Intefiquer Tomb's aurochs.png in Thebes, Egypt, depicting a North African aurochs bull, cow and calf being hunted with dogs and javelins.]]

The Indian aurochs (B. p. namadicus) became extinct sometime during the Holocene period, likely due to habitat loss caused by expanding pastoralism and interbreeding with the domestic zebu.{{cite book |last=Rangarajan, M. |title=India's Wildlife History |publisher=Permanent Black |year=2001 |isbn=978-81-7824-140-1 |location=Delhi, India |page=4}} The timing of extinction of aurochs in the Indian subcontinent is unclear, due to difficulty distinguishing aurochs remains from those of domestic cattle, with a 2021 review suggesting remains from Mehrgarh, Pakistan, dating to around 8,000 years ago "might constitute the only dated and reliably identified evidence" of Holocene Indian aurochs. The extinction probably predates the historical period, due to a lack of references to the aurochs in Indian texts.{{Citation |last=van Vuure |first=T. |title=Aurochs Bos primigenius Bojanus, 1827 |date=2014-10-30 |work=Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour of Wild Cattle |pages=240–254 |editor-last=Melletti |editor-first=Mario |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/9781139568098%23c15/type/book_part |access-date=2024-11-02 |edition=1 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/cbo9781139568098.017 |isbn=978-1-139-56809-8 |editor2-last=Burton |editor2-first=James}}

A 2014 review suggested that the youngest remains of African aurochs (B. p. mauritanicus) dated to around 6,000 years Before Present (BP),{{Cite journal |last=Faith |first=J. Tyler |date=January 2014 |title=Late Pleistocene and Holocene mammal extinctions on continental Africa |journal=Earth-Science Reviews |volume=128 |pages=105–121 |doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2013.10.009|bibcode=2014ESRv..128..105F}} though some authors suggest that it may have survived until at least to the Roman period, as indicated by remains found in Buto and Faiyum in the Nile Delta.

In China, aurochs persisted until at least 3,600 BP.{{Cite journal |last1=Hou |first1=Jiawen |last2=Guan |first2=Xiwen |last3=Xia |first3=Xiaoting |last4=Lyu |first4=Yang |last5=Liu |first5=Xin |last6=Mazei |first6=Yuri |last7=Xie |first7=Ping |last8=Chang |first8=Fengqin |last9=Zhang |first9=Xiaonan |last10=Chen |first10=Jialei |last11=Li |first11=Xinyi |last12=Zhang |first12=Fengwei |last13=Jin |first13=Liangliang |last14=Luo |first14=Xiaoyu |last15=Sinding |first15=Mikkel-Holger S. |date=September 2024 |title=Evolution and legacy of East Asian aurochs |journal=Science Bulletin |volume=69 |issue=21 |pages=3425–3433 |doi=10.1016/j.scib.2024.09.016|pmid=39322456 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2024SciBu..69.3425H }}

The Eurasian aurochs (B. p. primigenius) was present in southern Sweden during the Holocene climatic optimum until at least 7,800 years BP.{{cite book |last=Magnell, O. |title=Climate Change and Human Responses |publisher=Springer |year=2017 |isbn=978-94-024-1105-8 |editor1=Monks, G.G. |series=Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology |location=Dordrecht |pages=123–135 |chapter=Climate Change at the Holocene Thermal Maximum and Its Impact on Wild Game Populations in South Scandinavia |doi=10.1007/978-94-024-1106-5_7 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e-hyDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA122}} In Denmark, the first-known local extinction of the aurochs occurred after the sea level rise on the newly formed Danish islands about 8,000–7,500 years BP, and the last documented aurochs lived in southern Jutland around 3,000 years BP. The latest-known aurochs fossil in Great Britain dates to 3,245 years BP, and it was probably extinct by 3,000 years ago.{{cite journal |last=Clutton-Brock, J. |year=1989 |title=Five thousand years of livestock in Britain |journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=31–37 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8312.1989.tb01560.x}}

Excessive hunting began and continued until the aurochs was nearly extinct. The gradual extinction of the aurochs in Central Europe was concurrent with the clearcutting of large forest tracts between the 9th and 12th centuries.

By the 13th century, the aurochs existed only in small numbers in Eastern Europe, and hunting it became a privilege of nobles and later royals. The population in Hungary was declining from at least the 9th century and was extinct in the 13th century.{{cite journal |last=Bartosiewicz, L. |year=2006 |title=Interdisciplinary analysis of an Iron Age Aurochs horn core from Hungary: a case study |journal=Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae |volume=57 |issue=1–3 |pages=153–163 |doi=10.1556/AArch.57.2006.1-3.10}}{{cite journal |last=Bartosiewicz, L. |year=1997 |title=A horn worth blowing? A stray find of Aurochs from Hungary |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289813462 |journal=Antiquity |volume=71 |issue=274 |pages=1007–1010 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00085902 |s2cid=161722401}}

Findings from subfossil records indicate that wild aurochs might have survived in northwestern Transylvania until the 14th to 16th century, in western Moldavia until probably the early 17th century.{{cite journal |last1=Bejenaru |first1=L. |last2=Stanc |first2=S. |last3=Popovici |first3=M. |last4=Balasescu |first4=A. |last5=Cotiuga |first5=V. |name-list-style=amp |year=2013 |title=Holocene subfossil records of the auroch (Bos primigenius) in Romania |journal=The Holocene |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=603–614 |bibcode=2013Holoc..23..603B |doi=10.1177/0959683612465448 |s2cid=131580290}}{{cite journal |last1=Németh |first1=A. |last2=Bárány |first2=A. |last3=Csorba |first3=G. |last4=Magyari |first4=E. |last5=Pazonyi |first5=P. |last6=Pálfy |first6=J. |date=2017 |title=Holocene mammal extinctions in the Carpathian Basin: a review |url=http://real.mtak.hu/47261/1/Nemeth_etal_2017_MammRev_Holocene_ext_preprint_u.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Mammal Review |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=38–52 |doi=10.1111/mam.12075 |bibcode=2017MamRv..47...38N |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://real.mtak.hu/47261/1/Nemeth_etal_2017_MammRev_Holocene_ext_preprint_u.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09}}

The last-known aurochs herd lived in a marshy woodland in Poland's Jaktorów Forest. It decreased from around 50 individuals in the mid 16th century to four individuals by 1601. The last aurochs cow died in 1627 from natural causes.{{cite journal |last=Rokosz |first=M. |year=1995 |title=History of the Aurochs (Bos taurus primigenius) in Poland |url=http://agtr.ilri.cgiar.org/agtrweb/Documents/Library/docs/agri16_95.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Animal Genetics Resources Information |volume=16 |pages=5–12 |doi=10.1017/S1014233900004582 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114152435/http://agtr.ilri.cgiar.org/agtrweb/Documents/Library/docs/agri16_95.pdf |archive-date=14 January 2013}}

A 2021 study argued that the aurochs possibly survived in northeastern Bulgaria until at least the 17th century.{{cite journal |last=Boev |first=Z. |year=2016 |title=Subfossil vertebrate fauna from Forum Serdica (Sofia, Bulgaria), 16–18th Century AD |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308747936 |journal=Acta Zoologica Bulgarica |volume=68 |issue=3 |pages=415–424}} A horn-core excavated in 2020 in Sofia was identified as being from an aurochs; the archaeological layer in which it was found was dated to the second half of the 17th or first half of the 18th century, suggesting that aurochs may have survived in Bulgaria until that date.{{cite journal |last=Boev |first=Z. |year=2021 |title=The last Bos primigenius survived in Bulgaria (Cetartiodactyla: Bovidae) |journal=Lynx |series=New Series |volume=52 |pages=139–142 |doi=10.37520/lynx.2021.010 |s2cid=246761121 |doi-access=free}}

{{multiple image |perrow=1 |image1=Hausrindlainz.jpg |caption1=Heck cattle in Lainzer Tiergarten}}

In the early 1920s, Heinz Heck initiated a selective breeding program in Hellabrunn Zoo attempting to breed back the aurochs using several cattle breeds; the result is called Heck cattle.{{Cite journal |last=Heck |first=H. |title=The breeding-back of the Aurochs |doi=10.1017/S0030605300035286 |journal=Oryx |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=117–122 |year=1951 |doi-access=free}}

Herds of these cattle were released to Oostvaardersplassen, a polder in the Netherlands in the 1980s as aurochs surrogates for naturalistic grazing with the aim to restore prehistorical landscapes.{{cite journal |author1=Lorimer, J. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Driessen, C. |year=2016 |title=From "Nazi cows" to cosmopolitan "ecological engineers": specifying rewilding through a history of Heck cattle |journal=Annals of the American Association of Geographers |volume=106 |issue=3 |pages=631–652 |doi=10.1080/00045608.2015.1115332 |bibcode=2016AAAG..106..631L |s2cid=131547744}} Large numbers of them died of starvation during the cold winters of 2005 and 2010, and the project of no interference ended in 2018.{{cite journal |last=Theunissen |first=B. |year=2019 |title=The Oostvaardersplassen Fiasco |journal=Isis |volume=110 |issue=2 |pages=341–345 |doi=10.1086/703338 |doi-access=free}}

Starting in 1996, Heck cattle were crossed with southern European cattle breeds such as Sayaguesa Cattle, Chianina and to a lesser extent Spanish Fighting Bulls in the hope of creating a more aurochs-like animal. The resulting crossbreeds are called Taurus cattle.{{cite journal |last=Bunzel-Drüke, M. |year=2001 |title=Ecological substitutes for Wild Horse (Equus ferus, Boddaert 1785 = E. przewalskii, Poljakov 1881) and Aurochs (Bos primigenius, Bojanus 1827) |journal=Natur- und Kulturlandschaft |volume=4 |pages=240–252 |citeseerx=10.1.1.403.8349 }} Other breeding-back projects are the Tauros Programme and the Uruz Project.

However, approaches aiming at breeding an aurochs-like phenotype do not equate to an aurochs-like genotype.{{cite journal |doi=10.5334/oq.25 |title=The draft genome of extinct European Aurochs and its implications for de-extinction |journal=Open Quaternary |volume=2 |year=2016 |author1=Sinding, M.-H.S. |author2=Gilbert, M.T.P. |doi-access=free |name-list-style=amp}}

{{Portal|Paleontology}}

• Ur (rune)
• Sacred bull
• Chillingham cattle

{{Reflist}}

{{EB1911 poster|Aurochs}}

• [https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/where-did-aurochs-live The Story of the Aurochs Is More Complicated Than We Thought], December 12, 2024. Article at Atlas Obscura

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Category:Mammals described in 1827

Category:Bos

Category:Extinct mammals of Europe

Category:Extinct mammals

Category:Extinct mammals of Asia

Category:Extinct mammals of Africa

Category:Fossil taxa described in 1827

Category:Holocene extinctions

Category:Mammal extinctions since 1500

Category:Pleistocene Artiodactyla

Category:Pleistocene first appearances

Category:Pliocene Artiodactyla

Category:Prehistoric bovids

Category:Species made extinct by human activities

Category:Bovids of Africa