Cattle—colloquially cows[note 1]—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 taurus.
Cattle
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A Swiss Braunvieh cow wearing a cowbell
Conservation status
Domesticated
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Bovinae
Genus: Bos
Species: B. taurus
Binomial name
Bos taurus
Linnaeus, 1758
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Bovine range
Synonyms
Bos primigenius
Bos indicus
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 that pull carts, plows and other implements). Other products include leather and dung for manure or fuel. In some regions, such as parts of India, cattle have significant religious meaning.
Around 10,500 years ago, cattle were domesticated from as few as 80 progenitors in southeast Turkey.[1] According to an estimate from 2011, there are 1.4 billion cattle in the world.[2] In 2009, cattle became one of the first livestock animals to have a fully mapped genome.[3] Some consider cattle the oldest form of wealth, and cattle raiding consequently one of the earliest forms of theft.
