Bovini

In 1821 British zoologist John Edward Gray described the family, subfamily and tribe Bovidae, Bovinae, and Bovini respectively. The word "Bovini" is the combination of the Latin prefix bos (written as bov-, which is Late Latin from bovinus) and the suffix -ini refers to their ranking as a tribe. ==Systematics==

Placement within Bovinae }} }} }} The wild cattle belong to the subfamily Bovinae, which also includes spiral-horned antelope of the tribe Tragelaphini and two aberrant species of Asian antelope, four-horned antelope and nilgai, which belong to the tribe Boselaphini. The relationship between the tribes varies in research concerning their phylogeny. Most molecular research supports a Bovini and Tragelaphini subclade of Bovinae. There are also some morphological support for this, most notably both groups have horn cores with a pedicle. Fossil record The earliest known wild cattle originated from Asia south of the Himalayas during the Late Miocene. This is not only supported by the fossil record but also the fact that South Asia has the highest diversity of wild cattle on the planet, as well as the fact the southeast Asian saola is the basal most of the living species. During the Pliocene epoch some bovines left Africa and entered Europe, where they have evolved into hardy, cold-adapted species. Below is the list of fossil species that have been described so far listed in alphabetical order that currently do not fit in any of the existing subtribes: • Tribe Bovini (Gray, 1821) • Genus †Alephis (Gromolard, 1980) • †Alephis lyrix (Gromolard, 1980) • †Alephis tigneresi (Michaux et al., 1991) • Genus †Eosyncerus (Vekua, 1972) • †Eosyncerus ivericus (Vekua, 1972) • Genus †Jamous (Geraads et al., 2008) • †Jamous kolleensis (Geraads et al., 2008) • Genus †Probison (Sahni & Khan, 1968) • †Probison dehmi (Sahni & Khan, 1968) • Genus †Simatherium (Dietrich, 1941) • †Simatherium kohllarseni (Dietrich, 1941) • †Simatherium shungurense (Geraads, 1995) • Genus †Udabnocerus (Burchak-Abramovich & Gabashvili, 1969) • †Udabnocerus georgicus (Burchak-Abramovich & Gabashvili, 1969) Taxonomy }} }} }} The majority of phylogenetic work based on ribosomal DNA, chromosomal analysis, autosomal introns and mitochondrial DNA has recovered three distinctive subtribes of Bovini: Pseudorygina (represented solely by the saola), Bubalina (represented today by the genera Syncerus and Bubalus), and Bovina (represented today by the genera Bison and Bos). According to the fossil record and the molecular work, Bubalina and Bovina have diverged from one and another from a common ancestor around 13.7 million years ago in the Late Miocene. The number of taxa and their evolutionary relationships with each other has been debated, mainly as there is several evidence of ancient hybridization events that occurred among the various species of wild cattle, obstructing any evidence of their relationships. Below is the taxonomy of extant genera that are classified as members of the tribe Bovini (more information regarding the species taxonomy is explained more in-depth in their respective subtribe articles): • Tribe Bovini (Gray, 1821) • Subtribe Pseudorygina (Hassanin & Douzery, 1999) • Genus Pseudoryx (Dung et al., 1993) – Saolas • Subtribe Bubalina (Rütimeyer, 1865) • Genus Syncerus (Hodgson, 1847) – African buffalos • Genus Bubalus (Hamilton-Smith, 1827) – Anoas and the wild water buffalos • Subtribe Bovina (Gray, 1821) • Genus Bison (Hamilton-Smith, 1827) – Bison (might be part of Bos instead) • Genus Bos (Linnaeus, 1758) – Taurine and Asiatic cattle ==Natural history==

General description is the largest species of their lineage. Wild cattle are usually massive bovids that are stout-bodied with thick, short legs. There are, however, several species of buffalo that live on the various islands in Southeast Asia are dwarf species, such as the tamaraw and the anoa, that weigh between 200 and 300 kilograms. • Saola: 2n = 50 • Forest buffalo: 2n = 54 • Cape buffalo: 2n = 52 • Lowland anoa: 2n = 48 • Water buffalo: 2n = 48 • Gaur: 2n = 58 • Banteng: 2n = 60 • Yak: 2n = 60 • European bison: 2n = 60 • American bison: 2n = 60 • Cattle: 2n = 60 Bovin hybridization is most common in the subtribe Bovina, the most well known of these is the beefalo (a cross between cattle and American bison). Most of these hybrids are deliberate from humans wanting to improve the quality of various cattle breeds (in particular for beef production). All bovinan hybrids produce sterile males and fertile females following Haldane's rule. In addition for the agricultural purposes, bovin hybridization was used in the past to save several species such as the American bison in the past. This has caused problems for wild cattle conservation as hybrids pollute the genetic diversity of genetically-pure animals. ==References==