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Livestock

Cattle

Also Known As Bovine
Cattle and Cattle Breeds

The most economically important domesticated animal on Earth, bred from the now-extinct aurochs. Cattle gave farming societies milk, meat, leather, dung for fuel and fertilizer, and, for most of agricultural history, the pulling power behind the plough. About a billion and a half head are alive today. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Scientific Name
Bos taurus (taurine cattle) and Bos indicus (zebu) 2
Domestication Region
Fertile Crescent (taurine); Indus Valley (zebu) 2
Domesticated When (Circa)
circa 8500 BC from the aurochs 2
Primary Uses
Milk, meat, draft power, leather, dung fuel and fertilizer 2
Era
Era (category)
Neolithic 1
Connections

Associated With

Anaplasmosis, Pests and Diseases

Bovine anaplasmosis, a tick-borne rickettsial disease, is a major cause of anemia and production loss in cattle.

Anthrax, Pests and Diseases

Anthrax (Bacillus anthracis) causes acute, often fatal outbreaks in grazing cattle.

Babesiosis, Pests and Diseases

Bovine babesiosis (cattle tick fever), transmitted by cattle ticks, is a major hemoparasitic disease of cattle.

Enabled ranchers to enclose vast territories and control cattle movement, ending the open range

Source Barbed Wire (Wikipedia)

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease) is a fatal neurodegenerative prion disease of cattle.

Bovine tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis) is a chronic, zoonotic wasting disease of cattle herds.

Bovine viral diarrhea virus is one of the most economically important viral pathogens of cattle worldwide.

the branding iron marks cattle for ownership identification

Brucellosis, Pests and Diseases

Brucellosis (Brucella abortus) causes abortion storms and is a major reproductive disease of cattle herds.

the butter churn turns cattle milk into butter

Cattle Tick, Pests and Diseases

The cattle tick (Rhipicephalus microplus) is a major external parasite of cattle and vector of babesiosis and anaplasmosis.

the cheese press compacts curds made from cattle milk into cheese

Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (Mycoplasma mycoides) is a major respiratory disease of cattle in Africa.

Domestication of Cattle, Milestones

This milestone records the domestication event of cattle it is directly named for.

Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious, economically devastating viral disease most notably affecting cattle.

forage harvesters chop and collect silage crops grown principally to feed cattle

Heartwater, Pests and Diseases

Heartwater (Ehrlichia ruminantium), transmitted by Amblyomma ticks, is a major tick-borne disease of cattle in Africa and the Caribbean.

Johne's Disease, Pests and Diseases

Johne's disease (paratuberculosis) is a chronic wasting intestinal disease of cattle.

Leptospirosis, Pests and Diseases

Leptospirosis is a major zoonotic bacterial disease causing abortion and reduced milk yield in cattle herds.

a livestock crush restrains cattle for veterinary treatment, branding or inspection

Lumpy skin disease is a notifiable viral disease of cattle causing characteristic skin nodules and production loss.

manure spreaders distribute livestock manure, principally from cattle, as field fertilizer

Automated the extraction of milk from dairy herds

Source Automatic Milking (Wikipedia)

The New World screwworm fly lays eggs in open wounds of cattle, its larvae causing severe, often fatal myiasis.

Range Science, Disciplines

A core grazing animal the discipline manages rangeland forage for

Source Rangeland Management (Wikipedia)

Rift Valley fever is a mosquito-borne viral disease causing high abortion and mortality rates in cattle.

Rinderpest, Pests and Diseases

Rinderpest ('cattle plague'), eradicated in 2011, was historically the most feared viral disease of cattle.

Selective Breeding, Practices

Robert Bakewell's systematic selective breeding in the 18th century was worked out on Longhorn cattle as well as sheep.

Source Selective Breeding (Wikipedia)
Trypanosomiasis, Pests and Diseases

Nagana, a tsetse-fly-borne trypanosomiasis, is a major constraint on cattle keeping across much of sub-Saharan Africa.

In Discipline

In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Cattle (Wikipedia)
lead: domesticated ~10,500 years ago in central Anatolia/Levant/IranView the Source
2. Cattle (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Lead section
    About 10,500 years ago, taurine cattle were domesticated from wild aurochs progenitors in central Anatolia, the Levant and Western Iran.
  • Domestication section
    Cattle were first domesticated from wild aurochs (Bos primigenius) approximately 10,500 years ago.
View the Source
Selective Breeding (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Selective BreedingView the Source
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