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Post by another specialist on Jun 21, 2008 7:50:17 GMT
African Aurochs (Bos primigenius mauretanicus) distribution: North-Africa -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- size: ca. 3,5 m (length) extinction date: ? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This subspecies, which is known on the basis of bones only, lived in northern Africa, it is most likely one of the ancestors of the african zebus, however, other cattle breed, which descend from the european Aurochs, were also interbred. The extinction date is not exactly known, but this form may well have survived into the holocene, that means the time about 8000 B.P.. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- syn. Bos primigenius africanus, Bos primigenius opisthonomous www.extinct.minks-lang.de/index_english.html |
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Post by another specialist on Jun 21, 2008 8:01:13 GMT
The aurochs (Bos primigenius Bojanus, 1827) had once a distribution area that included almost whole of Europe, large parts of Asia, and North Africa (see range map below). At that time there existed still three subspecies of the aurochs, namely Bos primigenius namadicus Falconer, 1859 that occurred in India, the Bos primigenius mauretanicus Thomas, 1881 from North Africa and naturally the Bos primigenius primigenius Bojanus, 1827 from Europe and the Middle East. (Van Vuure, 2003)  Blue: primigenius subspecies - Yellow: mauretanicus subspecies - Green: namadicus subspecies Source: www.petermaas.nl/extinct/speciesinfo/aurochs.htm |
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Post by another specialist on Jun 21, 2008 8:07:43 GMT
The Ancient Egyptian cattle Bos aegyptiacus (name not recognized by ITIS) was a domesticated form of ox of uncertain origin. The earliest evidence of Bos aegyptiacus is from the Fayum region, dating back to the 8th millennium BC. Unlike other species of ox, B. aegyptiacus did not have a hump. It had either large widespread horns, which arched first inward and then outward or shorter horns which had the same structure. According to Egyptian art, B. aegyptiacus was coloured either black, brown, brown and white, white spotted, black and white, or white. It is uncertain as to where B. aegyptiacus originated, as some claim that it was acquired from the Levant or Mesopotamia while others claim that it was domesticated from a unique North African subspecies of the Aurochs, Bos primigenius mauretanicus. There is evidence for both sides as cattle had been domesticated in the Levant by the 8th millennium BC but excavations of early Holocene western Sahara show that indigenous cattle existed previous to the 8th millennium.Regardless, B. aegyptiacus was of great importance to the Ancient Egyptians who put it out to pasture on land that was unfarmable, either because it was too far from the Nile to irrigate or in the Nile Delta (and thus too wet to farm). B. aegyptiacus was used for food, milk, leather, and sacrifice. B. aegyptiacus came to be considered so important that many Egyptian gods were considered to have the form of B. aegyptiacus, notable deities being Hathor, Ptah (as the Apis Bull), Menthu (as the Bukha bull), and Atum-Ra (as the Mnevis Bull). Many were mummified. During the New Kingdom the Zebu, a hump-backed cattle from Syria was introduced to Egypt and the B. aegyptiacus seems to have slowly been replaced by this new cattle. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bos_aegyptiacus |
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Post by another specialist on Dec 17, 2008 7:56:25 GMT
  Wild oxen, sheep & goats of all lands, living and extinct (1898) Author: Lydekker, Richard, 1849-1915 |
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