Cow

Cattle (colloquially cows) are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius. Cattle are raised as livestock for meat (beef and veal), as dairy animals for milk and other dairy products, and as draft animals (oxen or bullocks) (pulling carts, plows and the like). Other products include leather and dung for manure or fuel. In some countries, such as India, cattle are sacred.From as few as 80 progenitors domesticated in southeast Turkey about 10,500 years ago,[2] an estimated 1. 3 billion cattle are in the world today. [3] In 2009, cattle became the first livestock animal to have a fully mapped genome. [4] SpeciesMain article: Bovini Cattle were originally identified as three separate species: Bos taurus, the European or â€Å"taurine† cattle (including similar types from Africa and Asia); Bos indi cus, the zebu; and the extinct Bos primigenius, the aurochs. The aurochs is ancestral to both zebu and taurine cattle.Recently, these three have increasingly been grouped as one species, with Bos primigenius taurus, Bos primigenius indicus and Bos primigenius primigenius as the subspecies. [5] Zubron, a cross between wisent and cattleComplicating the matter is the ability of cattle to interbreed with other closely related species. Hybrid individuals and even breeds exist, not only between taurine cattle and zebu (such as the sanga cattle, Bos taurus africanus), but also between one or both of these and some other members of the genus Bos – yaks (the dzo or yattle[6]), banteng, and gaur.Hybrids such as the beefalo breed can even occur between taurine cattle and either species of bison, leading some authors to consider them part of the genus Bos, as well. [7] The hybrid origin of some types may not be obvious – for example, genetic testing of the Dwarf Lulu breed, the on ly taurine-type cattle in Nepal, found them to be a mix of taurine cattle, zebu, and yak. [8] However, cattle cannot successfully be hybridized with more distantly related bovines such as water buffalo or African buffalo.The aurochs originally ranged throughout Europe, North Africa, and much of Asia. In historical times, its range became restricted to Europe, and the last known individual died in Masovia, Poland, in about 1627. [9] Breeders have attempted to recreate cattle of similar appearance to aurochs by crossing traditional types of domesticated cattle, creating the Heck cattle breed. Word origin†Cattle† did not originate as the term for bovine animals.It was borrowed from Old French catel, itself from Latin caput, head, and originally meant movable personal property, especially livestock of any kind, as opposed to real property (the land, which also included wild or small free-roaming animals such as chickens — they were sold as part of the land). [10] The word is closely related to â€Å"chattel† (a unit of personal property) and â€Å"capital† in the economic sense. [11][12] The term replaced earlier Old English feoh â€Å"cattle, property† (cf. German: Vieh, Gothic: faihu). The word â€Å"cow† came via Anglo-Saxon cu (plural c? ), from Common Indo-European g? ous (genitive g? wes) = â€Å"a bovine animal†, compare Persian gav, Sanskrit go, Welsh buwch. [citation needed] The genitive plural of cu is c? na, which gave the now archaic English plural of â€Å"kine†. The Scots language singular is coo or cou, and the plural is â€Å"kye†. In older English sources such as the King James Version of the Bible, â€Å"cattle† refers to livestock, as opposed to â€Å"deer† which refers to wildlife. â€Å"Wild cattle† may refer to feral cattle or to undomesticated species of the genus Bos. Today, when used without any other qualifier, the modern meaning of â€Å"cattle† is usually restricted to domesticated bovines. citation needed] Terminology Look up cattle or cow in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. A Hereford bullIn general, the same words are used in different parts of the world, but with minor differences in the definitions. The terminology described here contrasts the differences in definition between the United Kingdom and other British-influenced parts of world such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the United States. [13] An â€Å"intact† (i. e. , not castrated) adult male is called a bull. A wild, young, unmarked bull is known as a â€Å"micky† in Australia. 14] An unbranded bovine of either sex is called a â€Å"maverick† in the USA and Canada. An adult female that has had a calf (or two, depending on regional usage) is a cow. A young female before she has had a calf of her own[15] and is under three years of age is called a heifer ( /? h? f? r/ HEF-? r). [16] A young female that has had only one cal f is occasionally called a first-calf heifer. Young cattle of both sexes are called calves until they are weaned, then weaners until they are a year old in some areas; in other areas, particularly with male beef cattle, they may be known as feeder calves or simply feeders.After that, they are referred to as yearlings or stirks[17] if between one and two years of age. [18] A castrated male is called a steer in the United States; older steers are often called bullocks in other parts of the world,[19] but in North America this term refers to a young bull. Piker bullocks are micky bulls that were caught, castrated and then later lost. [14] In Australia, the term â€Å"Japanese ox† is used for grain-fed steers in the weight range of 500 to 650 kg that are destined for the Japanese meat trade. [20] In North America, draft cattle under four years old are called working steers.Improper or late castration on a bull results in it becoming a coarse steer known as a stag in Australia, Ca nada and New Zealand. [21] In some countries, an incompletely castrated male is known also as a rig. A castrated male (occasionally a female or in some areas a bull) kept for draft purposes is called an ox (plural oxen); â€Å"ox† may also be used to refer to some carcass products from any adult cattle, such as ox-hide, ox-blood, oxtail, or ox-liver. [16] A springer is a cow or heifer close to calving. [22] In all cattle species, a female twin of a bull usually becomes an infertile partial intersex, and is a freemartin.Neat (horned oxen, from which neatsfoot oil is derived), beef (young ox) and beefing (young animal fit for slaughtering) are obsolete terms, although poll, pollard or polled cattle are still terms in use for naturally hornless animals, or in some areas also for those that have been disbudded. Cattle raised for human consumption are called beef cattle. Within the beef cattle industry in parts of the United States, the older term beef (plural beeves) is still use d to refer to an animal of either sex. Some Australian, Canadian, New Zealand and British people use the term beast, especially for single animals when the sex is unknown. 23] Cattle of certain breeds bred specifically for milk production are called milking or dairy cattle;[13] a cow kept to provide milk for one family may be called a house cow or milker. The adjective applying to cattle in general is usually bovine. The terms â€Å"bull†, â€Å"cow† and â€Å"calf† are also used by extension to denote the sex or age of other large animals, including whales, hippopotamuses, camels, elk and elephants See also: List of animal names Singular terminology issue A herd of CattleCattle can only be used in the plural and not in the singular: it is a plurale tantum. 24] Thus one may refer to â€Å"three cattle† or â€Å"some cattle†, but not â€Å"one cattle†. No universally used singular form in modern English of â€Å"cattle† exists, other t han the sex- and age-specific terms such as cow, bull, steer and heifer. Historically, â€Å"ox† was not a sex-specific term for adult cattle, but generally this is now used only for draft cattle, especially adult castrated males. The term is also incorporated into the names of other species, such as the musk ox and â€Å"grunting ox† (yak), and is used in some areas to describe certain cattle products such as ox-hide and oxtail. 25] A Brahman calf†Cow† is in general use as a singular for the collective â€Å"cattle†, despite the objections by those who insist it to be a female-specific term. Although the phrase â€Å"that cow is a bull† is absurd from a lexicographic standpoint, the word â€Å"cow† is easy to use when a singular is needed and the sex is unknown or irrelevant – when â€Å"there is a cow in the road†, for example. Further, any herd of fully mature cattle in or near a pasture is statistically likely to consi st mostly of cows, so the term is probably accurate even in the restrictive sense.Other than the few bulls needed for breeding, the vast majority of male cattle are castrated as calves and slaughtered for meat before the age of three years. Thus, in a pastured herd, any calves or herd bulls usually are clearly distinguishable from the cows due to distinctively different sizes and clear anatomical differences. Merriam-Webster, a US dictionary, recognizes the sex-nonspecific use of â€Å"cow† as an alternate definition,[26] whereas Collins, a UK dictionary, does not. [27]Colloquially, more general nonspecific terms may denote cattle when a singular form is needed. Australian, New Zealand and British farmers use the term â€Å"beast† or â€Å"cattle beast†. â€Å"Bovine† is also used in Britain. The term â€Å"critter† is common in the western United States and Canada, particularly when referring to young cattle. [28] In some areas of the American Sou th (particularly the Appalachian region), where both dairy and beef cattle are present, an individual animal was once called a â€Å"beef critter†, though that term is becoming archaic.