History of Domestic Cows
Cows belong to the Bovidae family of mammals and are found on most continents of the earth. Strictly speaking, cows are the female of the species and the males are called bulls. Collectively, they are called cattle. Scientists have now discovered genetic evidence that shows that cattle were first domesticated by humans more than 10,000 years ago. Early humans used them as work animals and for meat and milk. These studies have also shown that all the cattle on earth right now are descended from around 80 individuals who were domesticated from wild ox. This happened in the Near East – and the discovery was made following excavations at Iranian archaeological sites. The international team comprised scientists from the French National Centre for Scientific Research, the National Museum of Natural History in France, the German University of Mainz and University College London (UK) in Germany, and UCL in the UK. They extracted DNA from cattle bones at sites that were active soon after the invention of agriculture.
Cattle Appearance
Not all cattle look like this one! Cattle breeders may exaggerate the musculature of some bulls to demonstrate how much muscle their calves will be able to produce. When cattle are bred for meat, muscle is important! Cattle have a wide variety of breeds, colors, sizes and characteristics. Over thousands of years, breeders have selected animals with the characteristics that they want. For example, high milk yield and a docile nature are desired characteristics in dairy cattle who need to be handled often. Most cattle have thin bristly hair that can be many colors and patterns. Holstein cattle have irregular black and white shapes, Angus cattle are completely black and Highland cattle have a long, shaggy, brownish-red coat. This particular bull is an albino which means that his body does not produce melanin. This is the pigment that causes coloration. Albinism can only occur when one or more mutated genes are inherited from BOTH parents. This does not happen very often and that is why it is so rare.
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