The aurochs (/ˈɔːrɒks/ or /ˈaʊrɒks/; also urus, ure, (Bos primigenius), the ancestor of domestic cattle, is an extinct type of large wild cattle that inhabited Europe, Asia and North Africa; they survived in Europe until the last recorded aurochs, a female, died in the Jaktorów Forest, Poland in 1627.
During the Neolithic Revolution, which occurred during the early Holocene, there were at least two aurochs domestication events: one related to the Indian subspecies, leading to Zebu cattle; the other one related to the Eurasian subspecies, leading to taurine cattle. Other species of wild bovines were also domesticated, namely the wild water buffalo, Gaur, and Banteng. In modern cattle, numerous breeds share characteristics of the aurochs, such as a dark colour of the bulls with a light eel stripe and light colour in cows, or a typical aurochs-like horn shape.
Read more about Aurochs: Taxonomy and Etymology, Description, Habitat, Ecology and Behaviour, In Culture
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