Taurine cattle
Humpless cattle, Bos taurus, from the aurochs of the Near East: the breeds of Europe, West Africa and East Asia.
Taurine cattle, Bos taurus, are the humpless cattle. They descend from the aurochs of the Near East, tamed in the upper valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates roughly ten and a half thousand years ago, and they spread with early farmers into Europe, North Africa and East Asia. Almost every European breed is taurine, from the Holstein and Jersey to the Highland and Chianina, as are the Wagyu and Hanwoo of East Asia and the N'Dama and Kuri of Africa. In South Asia, the native cattle are zebu instead, though taurine blood has come in through crossbreeding.
Origins in the Near East
Archaeology and ancient DNA point to the northern Fertile Crescent, in what is now south-east Turkey, northern Syria and northern Iraq, as the place where aurochs were first kept and bred around ten and a half thousand years ago. The founding herd seems to have been small. From there, cattle travelled with farmers west along the Mediterranean and up the Danube into Europe, and south into Egypt. Wild aurochs bulls sometimes crossed with domestic cows along the way, leaving traces of local wild ancestry in some European breeds.
How to tell them
Taurine cattle have no hump over the shoulders and usually a small, tight dewlap, with shorter ears than zebu. Their coats are often thicker and they cope better with cold than with heat. They have fewer sweat glands than zebu. Within the taurine family, breeds range from the long-legged Podolic grey cattle to the compact Highland and the tiny Dexter, and from the black Angus to the white Charolais and the pied Holstein.
Taurine cattle in Africa and Asia
West Africa has old taurine breeds of its own: the long-horned N'Dama of Guinea and the short-horned Baoulé, Lagune and others. Many of them tolerate the trypanosomes carried by tsetse fly, which makes them vital where zebu struggle. The Kuri of Lake Chad is another African taurine. In East Asia, the Wagyu of Japan, the Hanwoo of Korea and Mongolian cattle are taurine or mostly so. In India, Holstein and Jersey crosses with native zebu now make up a large share of the dairy herd.
Worth knowing
- Holstein Friesian: The most numerous dairy breed in the world
- Aberdeen Angus: Black polled beef breed from north-east Scotland
- Highland: Shaggy, long-horned cattle of the Scottish Highlands
- Jersey: Small, fawn dairy cow from the island of Jersey
- Chianina: Very tall white breed of Tuscany
- N'Dama: Trypanotolerant West African taurine
- Wagyu: Japanese cattle bred for marbling
- Hanwoo: Native brown cattle of Korea
Sources and further reading
About this page
Original text by the EveryCow desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Customs are described as tradition, not as advice. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Taurine on EveryCow
The breeds written up so far, best known first.
🇳🇱 Netherlands and 3 moreHolstein Friesian
A black and white dairy breed kept worldwide, with red and white lines tooTaurine · Dairy
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreHereford
A red and white beef breed from Herefordshire, England, known for its white face and hardiness.Taurine · Beef · Docile
🇨🇭 Switzerland and 5 moreSimmental
A large dual-purpose breed from the Swiss Simme valley, red and white with strong growth rates.Taurine · Dual-purpose · Docile
🇫🇷 France and 3 moreCharolaisCharolaise
A large French taurine beef breed from eastern France, white to cream with pink noses and curved horns.Taurine · Beef · Docile
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreAyrshire
Red-and-white dairy cattle from south-west Scotland, hardy, long-lived and easy calversTaurine · Dairy · Easy calving
🇧🇪 Belgium and 3 moreBelgian BlueBlanc-Bleu Belge / Belgisch Witblauw
A muscular beef breed from Belgium known for its blue-grey coat and double-muscling gene.Taurine · Beef · Docile
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreHeck
A German type bred in the 1920s to recreate the extinct aurochsTaurine · Grazing · Cold-hardy
🇺🇸 United StatesTexas Longhorn
American beef cattle, once feral on Texas ranges, with horn spreads beyond 2.4 mTaurine · Beef · Heat-tolerant
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreShorthorn
A historic British breed from north-east England, kept for milk and meat with red, white or roan coats.Taurine · Dual-purpose · Docile
🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreChianina
A massive white Italian breed known for beef production and historic draught work in Tuscany.Taurine · Beef · Heat-tolerant
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreGalloway
A polled black beef breed from south-west Scotland with a thick double coatTaurine · Beef · Cold-hardy
🇨🇭 Switzerland and 5 moreBraunvieh
A large Alpine brown dairy breed from Switzerland, known for its strength and high milk yield.Taurine · Dairy · Rich milk
🇭🇺 HungaryHungarian GreyMagyar Szürke
A tall, long-horned Podolic breed from the Hungarian plains, kept for beef and draught work.Taurine · Beef · Marbled beef
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreDanish RedRød Dansk Malkerace
A red Danish dairy breed, with a modern line and a 1970 lineTaurine · Dairy · Rich milk
🇺🇸 United StatesGuernsey
A fawn dairy breed from Guernsey, its milk tinted gold by beta-caroteneTaurine · Dairy · Docile
🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreDexter
A small Irish dual-purpose breed, usually black or red, kept for milk and beef on poor land.Taurine · Dual-purpose · Thrifty foragers
🇦🇹 Austria and 1 morePinzgauer
Chestnut Austrian cattle with a broad white stripe along the back and bellyTaurine · Triple-purpose
🇫🇷 France and 2 moreBlonde d'Aquitaine
A big wheat-coated beef breed from south-west France, born of three old draught linesTaurine · Beef
🇫🇷 France and 2 moreNormande
A large red-pied French dual-purpose breed, kept for rich milk and marbled beefTaurine · Dual-purpose · Rich milk
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 morePiedmontesePiemontese
A white Italian beef breed known for double muscling and premium lean meat.Taurine · Beef · Marbled beef
🇫🇷 France and 2 moreMontbéliarde
A red and white dairy breed from eastern France, prized for cheesemaking milk.Taurine · Dairy · Rich milk
🇩🇪 Germany and 4 moreGerman Black Pied
A dairy breed of the North Sea coast, black and white, smaller than the HolsteinTaurine · Dairy · Long-lived
🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreHanwoo한우
A small, brown taurine breed from Korea, once used for work and now prized for its premium beef.Taurine · Beef · Docile
🇲🇳 Mongolia and 3 moreKalmykКалмыцкая
A compact red beef breed of the old Soviet Union, noted for exceptional toughnessTaurine · Beef · Thrifty foragers
🇬🇳 Guinea and 5 moreN'Dama
A West African breed that can live where tsetse flies carry trypanosomiasisTaurine · Disease-resistant
🇱🇻 LatviaLatvian Brown
A red dairy breed from Latvia, developed from Angeln stock and once numbering over a million head.Taurine · Dairy · Docile
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan and 1 moreKazakh WhiteheadedҚазақтың ақбас сиыры
A Hereford-like beef breed from Kazakhstan and the lower Volga, horned and hardyTaurine · Beef · Cold-hardy
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreBelted Galloway
A polled Scottish beef breed with a distinctive white belt around its black body.Taurine · Beef · Cold-hardy
🇭🇷 Croatia and 5 moreBuša
A little mountain cow of the Balkans with short horns, kept for milk, meat and workTaurine · Triple-purpose · Disease-resistant
🇫🇷 France and 2 moreAbondance
A red and white dairy breed from the French Alps, kept for milk and mountain grazing.Taurine · Dairy · Heat-tolerant
🇸🇪 SwedenSwedish Red-and-WhiteSvensk röd och vit boskap
A red and white Swedish milk breed with horns on cows and bulls alikeTaurine · Dairy
🇫🇷 FranceSalersrace de Salers
A large dual-purpose breed from the Cantal mountains of France, red or black with lyre-shaped horns.Taurine · Dual-purpose · Docile
🇸🇪 SwedenFjällSvensk fjällras
A polled, mostly white dairy cow from the Swedish mountains, hardy on thin grazing.Taurine · Dairy · Polled
🇳🇱 Netherlands and 1 moreLakenvelder
A small Dutch dual-purpose breed with a black or red coat and a broad white belt around the middle.Taurine · Dual-purpose · Docile
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 2 moreUkrainian GreyСіра українська порода
An ancient grey Podolian breed from Ukraine, kept for draught work and meat.Taurine · Beef · Drought-hardy
🇨🇭 SwitzerlandHérens
A small black or red Swiss alpine breed kept for cow fighting and mountain grazing.Taurine · Sport · Quick and strong
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreEnglish Longhorn
A large horned beef breed from northern England, marked by a white line along the spineTaurine · Beef · Long-horned
🇯🇵 JapanJapanese Black黒毛和種
A black-coated Japanese beef breed whose Tajima strain supplies Kobe beefTaurine · Beef
🇭🇷 Croatia and 1 moreBoškarin
A gray dual-purpose breed from the Istrian peninsula, kept for milk and gourmet beef.Taurine · Dual-purpose · Docile
🇮🇹 ItalyMaremmana
A big grey Podolic beef breed from the old marshes of the Maremma in central ItalyTaurine · Beef · Thrifty foragers
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreMaine-AnjouRouge des Prés
A red and white French beef breed from the Maine country, once a milk and meat animalTaurine · Beef
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreMarchigiana
A large white or grey Italian beef breed from the Marche, once worked as an oxTaurine · Beef
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreTarentaise
A French alpine breed from the Tarentaise valley, kept for cheese and for crossingTaurine · Dairy · Docile
🇮🇸 IcelandIcelandicíslenskur nautgripur
A small, mostly polled dairy breed isolated in Iceland for a thousand yearsTaurine · Dairy · Polled
🇵🇹 Portugal and 1 moreCachena
A small Iberian breed from northern Portugal and Galicia, kept for beef and formerly for draught work.Taurine · Beef · Docile
🇵🇱 PolandPolish RedPolska czerwona
A red Polish breed kept for both milk and beefTaurine · Dual-purpose
🇸🇩 Sudan and 4 moreSanga cattle
The umbrella name for native African cattle, mixing humpless taurine and zebu bloodTaurine · Disease-resistant
🇮🇳 IndiaMalnad Giddaಮಲೆನಾಡು ಗಿಡ್ಡ
A small, dark humpless breed from the Western Ghats of Karnataka, kept for milk and draught work.Taurine · Dairy · Disease-resistant
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Maremmana: Zyance, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Malnad Gidda: Pavanaja, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Belted Galloway: Jamain, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cachena: Rosino, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Buša: P.Cikovac, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tarentaise: BlackSlash73, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kazakh Whiteheaded: Горбунова М.С., CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Normande: Tsaag Valren, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Maine-Anjou: The original uploader was Cyrille BERNIZET at French Wikipedia ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- German Black Pied: WytzeNauta, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Heck: 4028mdk09, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Polish Red: myself ( User:Piotrus ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Braunvieh: 4028mdk09, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hereford: Hayden Soloviev, CC BY 4.0, source
- Hanwoo: mycrefun, CC0, source
- Pinzgauer: Wald1siedel, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lakenvelder: Dickelbers, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Montbéliarde: Abujoy, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Wagyu: Japanexperterna.se, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Danish Red: Malene Thyssen, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Abondance: Walpole, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Guernsey: Man vyi, Public domain, source
- Icelandic: Christian Bickel (user Fingalo ), CC BY-SA 2.0 de, source
- Sanga cattle: Just chaos, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kalmyk: not specified, Public domain, source
- Piedmontese: Aleks, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ukrainian Grey: Марія Гарбар, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Latvian Brown: Ingrīda Briede, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chianina: Monica, CC BY 2.0, source
- Ayrshire: Biggle, Jacob., Public domain, source
- Marchigiana: Nicola Romani, CC BY-SA 2.5 it, source
- Simmental: Richard Bartz, Munich Makro Freak, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Hérens: Joe Byrne, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Blonde d'Aquitaine: Myrabella, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hungarian Grey: The original uploader was Faludi at Hungarian Wikipedia ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Swedish Red-and-White: Tjalve77, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- English Longhorn: Dave, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Dexter: Hayden Soloviev, CC BY 4.0, source
- Salers: B.navez, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Holstein Friesian: Vista Alegre baserria, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- N'Dama: ILRI, CC BY 2.0, source
- Boškarin: Orlovic, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fjäll: Yvonne Zimmermann, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
- Charolais: Forum concoursvaches.fr, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Galloway: GerardM, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Belgian Blue: Stoolhog, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shorthorn: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Texas Longhorn: Clinton & Charles Robertson, CC BY 2.0, source