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
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.
🇨🇭 Switzerland and 5 moreBraunvieh
A large Alpine brown dairy breed from Switzerland, known for its strength and high milk yield.Taurine · Dairy · Rich milk
🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreChianina
A massive white Italian breed known for beef production and historic draught work in Tuscany.Taurine · Beef · Heat-tolerant
🇭🇺 HungaryHungarian GreyMagyar Szürke
A tall, long-horned Podolic breed from the Hungarian plains, kept for beef and draught work.Taurine · Beef · Marbled beef
🇰🇷 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
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 2 moreUkrainian GreyСіра українська порода
An ancient grey Podolian breed from Ukraine, kept for draught work and meat.Taurine · Beef · Drought-hardy
🇯🇵 JapanJapanese Black黒毛和種
A black-coated Japanese beef breed whose Tajima strain supplies Kobe beefTaurine · Beef
🇮🇹 ItalyMaremmana
A big grey Podolic beef breed from the old marshes of the Maremma in central ItalyTaurine · Beef · Thrifty foragers
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreMarchigiana
A large white or grey Italian beef breed from the Marche, once worked as an oxTaurine · Beef
🇮🇳 IndiaMalnad Giddaಮಲೆನಾಡು ಗಿಡ್ಡ
A small, dark humpless breed from the Western Ghats of Karnataka, kept for milk and draught work.Taurine · Dairy · Disease-resistant
🇵🇹 Portugal and 1 moreCachena
A small Iberian breed from northern Portugal and Galicia, kept for beef and formerly for draught work.Taurine · Beef · Docile
🇮🇳 IndiaAmrit Mahalಅಮೃತ ಮಹಲ್
A draught breed from Karnataka, bred for war and endurance by the Mysore royal household.Taurine · Draught · Quick and strong
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreMurnau-Werdenfels
A long-lived brown dairy breed of the Bavarian uplands, milk and beefTaurine · Dairy · Long-lived
🇫🇷 FranceVosgienne
A medium-sized French breed from the Vosges mountains, kept for milk and meatTaurine · Dual-purpose · Cold-hardy
🇫🇷 FranceCorse
A small tan cow from Corsica, once the island's plough ox, now reared free-range for beefTaurine · Beef · Thrifty foragers
🇪🇸 SpainPajuna
An endangered Andalusian breed, dark bulls and red-brown cows, once used for draught workTaurine · Draught · Cold-hardy
🇫🇷 FranceMirandaise
A large, heat-tolerant draught breed from the Gers, now raised for vealTaurine · Draught · Heat-tolerant
🇨🇳 ChinaYanbian
A humpless yellow breed from north-east China, a draught worker in the rice fieldsTaurine · Draught
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
- Cachena: Rosino, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Braunvieh: 4028mdk09, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hanwoo: mycrefun, CC0, source
- Wagyu: Japanexperterna.se, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Vosgienne: Eponimm, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mirandaise: PANDA 81, CC0, source
- Murnau-Werdenfels: Pippo-b, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ukrainian Grey: Марія Гарбар, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chianina: Monica, CC BY 2.0, source
- Marchigiana: Nicola Romani, CC BY-SA 2.5 it, source
- Hungarian Grey: The original uploader was Faludi at Hungarian Wikipedia ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Corse: luiginter, CC BY 2.0, source
- Pajuna: DFoidl, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Amrit Mahal: Pavanaja, CC BY-SA 3.0, source