Ancient bull tour first meeting with a man. The tour, or primeval bull, is a mad zoologist. What do we know about the tour
Systematics and phylogenetic relationships
Tur (primitive tour, primitive bull, wild bull) is a typical representative of the genus Bos (actually bulls) and the only representative of the subgenus Bos (real bulls) that has survived to our time and has been exterminated already in historical time.
Currently, there is no consensus regarding the species name of the described animal. It all depends on what time to attribute the origin of this species. Among the Pleistocene representatives of the genus Bos in the territory former USSR some authors distinguish up to 5-6 species of this genus. Others (for example, V. I. Gromova, 1931) take only two species - the glacial Bos trochoceros and its direct descendant - Bos primigenius. This view should be considered the most reasonable (Geptner, Nasimovich, Bannikov, 1961). All other varieties of the aurochs are more correctly attributed only to the geographical and chronological races of this bull. Some authors accept the species name Bos taurus for the tour, thus identifying at the species level wild tour and its domesticated form - European domestic cattle (South Asian cattle probably originates from another group of bulls, the so-called lobed bulls of the subgenus Bibos) and separating it from the Pleistocene form of the tour - Bos primigenius. However, such division (Bos trochoceros - Bos primigenius - Bos taurus) seems artificial. The most correct, in my opinion, is the selection of only two types of the evolutionary line of tours - Bos trochoceros and its direct descendant - Bos primigenius, that is, the tour itself. European livestock should be considered only a domesticated form of Bos primigenus and classified as a subspecies - Bos primigenius taurus (some, however, give it a species status - Bos taurus, which is incorrect). Thus, the Holocene tour, exterminated in historical time, was the same species as the Pleistocene tour, or, as it is also called, the primitive bull.
The most closely related species of the turu in modern fauna is the yak (Bos grunniens (syn. Bos mutus)). Some taxonomists place it, together with the tour, under genus Bos, while others tend to distinguish the yak as a separate subgenus Poephagus within the genus Bos. Be that as it may, the yak, as noted above, is the closest form of turu among modern animals. In the morphology of the yak, typically bullish (genus Bos) features are expressed, although it also combines some structural features of bison (genus Bison), being a kind of “transitional” form between real bulls and bison (Geptner, Nasimvochi, Bannikov, 1961). On this basis, some taxonomists place bison in the genus Bos, distinguishing them only as a subgenus of Bison. On the other hand, Asian bulls of the subgenus Bibos (big-lobed bulls) are quite closely adjacent to the bison. Based on modern taxonomy, according to which bison are placed in a separate genus, and lobed bulls are distinguished only at the subgenus level, it is quite reasonable to consider lobed bulls (subgenus Bibos) more related to the tour (and all other representatives of the subgenus Bos) than bison (genus Bison ). Although the connection between the big-fronted bulls and bison is obvious, they, in turn, are more closely related to bison than real bulls. The great isolation of bison in relation to real bulls is indicated, among other things, by the fact that hybrid males (unlike females) obtained from such crosses are sterile.
So, summing up the phylogenetic relationships of the aurochs, the following should be said: among modern species the closest relative of the bulls of the subgenus Bos in general and the aurochs in particular is the yak (either allocated or not allocated to a separate subgenus), then the big-lobed bulls of the subgenus Bibos, and only then the bison. A group of buffaloes (both Asian and African) related to different kinds, represents a different evolutionary branch of the bovine subfamily (Bovinae) and is farther away from real bulls than the above-mentioned yaks, lobed bulls and bison.
Taxonomy
Squad: Artiodactyla (artiodactyla)
Suborder: Ruminantia (ruminants)
Infrasquad: Pecora (horned)
Family: Bovidae (bovids)
Subfamily: Bovinae (bovine)
Tribe: Bovini (bulls)
Genus: Bos (real bulls)
Subgenus: Bos (real bulls)
View: Bos primigenius (tur, primeval, or wild bull)
Morphology
The tour, or primitive bull, is, or rather was a large, imposing animal with a powerful, but at the same time rather slender physique. The height at the shoulders of males was 170-180 cm, reaching, according to some sources, 2 meters, and body weight - 700-800 kg. Some sources claim that the weight of the animals could be as much as a ton. However, such figures should be treated with caution. Similar sizes are most likely true for Pleistocene and Early Holocene animals. By historical time, the tours were somewhat smaller than their prehistoric relatives. However, it is quite possible that among late animals there were individuals whose weight approached a ton, and a height of two meters, however, such individuals were obviously atypically large accelerators.
In general appearance, the tour was of a lighter stock than the modern bison, or even more so the bison. The spinous processes of the thoracic vertebrae of the tour were much shorter than in the named species, so its height at the withers was insignificant more height in the cross. The head was in proportion to the body, relatively and most often absolutely narrower than that of bison, aurochs, lobated bulls and yaks. The horns were large and sharp. They grew first to the sides, then forward and slightly inward, the ends of the horns were bent upwards. Thus, the horns of the tours were very formidable weapon and were more effective in combat than the horns of modern bulls. Currently, only the yak has horns that are equally effective for stabbing (the horns of these two species are very similar to each other). In general appearance tours are mostly repeated by Spanish fighting bulls and semi-wild bulls of the Camargue. However, unlike them, the aurochs reached more impressive sizes, their coloration was more uniform (although in the fighting bulls it is nevertheless overwhelmingly black or at least dark, like the aurochs), and along the ridge they had a characteristic light strip. These breeds of bulls are also similar to tours in their behavior, differing from other breeds in their ardent disposition, fighting enthusiasm and great mobility. In the 20th century, several attempts were made to restore the appearance of the tour by breeding modern breeds of large cattle. The greatest results were achieved by the works of the Berlin Zoological Garden (L. Heck). Through careful selection of several primitive breeds of cattle, especially the Spanish fighting bulls, it was possible to surprisingly a short time get a breed of bulls that were very similar to their mighty wild ancestor. This breed has not only typical turya horns and a monochromatic black color, but also a characteristic light belt along the back. By and large, morphologically, these bulls are no different from the tour, except perhaps for a slightly heavier warehouse. However, in ethological terms, these are already other animals that differ from the aurochs no less than domestic cat from wild. But in fairness, it should be noted that the breeders in their desire to recreate the aurochs achieved amazing results: they managed to recreate not only the appearance of the aurochs males, but also the bay coloration of the females and young animals, that is, to obtain the sexual and age dimorphism characteristic of the aurochs, while how similar is not observed among other domestic breeds of bulls, including among those that served as the basis for the creation of the described breed.
Distribution and habitats
The distribution of the tour was very wide. However, it is quite difficult to restore the true distribution area of this animal due to the fact that the remains of the postglacial tour (Bos primigenus) are often mixed with the remains of its Early and Middle Pleistocene ancestor, Bos trochoceros. Nevertheless, it can be said that initially the distribution area of the tour covered Europe (with the exception of northern regions), Southern Urals, Trans-Urals, Trans-Baikal, some areas Western Siberia, China and Manchuria (from 50 to 40 degrees north latitude south and east to Pacific Ocean), Kazakhstan, the Caucasus, Crimea, Turkmenistan, Asia Minor, Israel, Mesopotamia and some other nearby territories, as well as North Africa - from Egypt to Mauritania. Some of this information probably refers to Bos trochoceros, and some to the Pleistocene range of the aurochs proper. It is very difficult to determine the distribution area of the tour in historical time.
The biotopes of the tour were very diverse. He lived both in forests, sometimes even in very dense ones, including damp and marshy ones, and in sparse forests, forest-steppe, steppe, etc., as well as in the foothills. In some places (Pyrenees, Caucasus), tours lived even in the mountains, up to and including alpine meadows. In Europe, in the last centuries of its existence, tours to summer time they preferred open meadow pastures, and went to the forests for the winter, feeding there partially on branch forage (Geptner, Nasimovich, Bannikov, 1961).
Lifestyle and behavior
It is rather difficult to judge the behavior of an extinct animal. Nevertheless, thanks to historical data, as well as focusing on modern relatives of the aurochs, one can to some extent judge the lifestyle and behavioral features of this animal. As for the latter, here, in my opinion, it is best to focus not on wild bulls (yaks, gaurs, bantengs, etc.), but on semi-wild or feral representatives of European cattle, as well as on such breeds as Spanish fighting bull.
Ttsry lived in small groups. According to some reports, they united in these groups mainly in winter, and in summer they stayed more alone. But most likely, adult males led a solitary lifestyle, and females from young animals obviously huddled in small herds. It is quite possible that males sometimes formed their own bachelor groups.
The basis of the diet of tours was grass and shoots of trees and shrubs. In autumn, acorns played a very significant role in the nutrition of aurochs. The rut took place in September, the birth of calves in the spring (Geptner, Nasimovich, Bannikov, 1961).
Tours possessed explosive temperaments and great fighting spirit. In Russian folklore, they serve as a symbol of power and courage. Hunting these bulls, with their strength and mobility, has always been very dangerous and was considered a valiant deed. This is partly the reason why some researchers explain the relatively small number of remains of aurochs compared to the remains of bison in the settlements of Paleolithic people.
In prehistoric times, the adult tour had few enemies. Wolves were a danger only to the young. Only lions, primitive people, sometimes, probably, bears, and in some regions also tigers could dare to attack seasoned bulls.
Causes of extinction
Tur belongs to those animals of the Pleistocene megafauna that successfully crossed the border of the Pleistocene and lived safely in the Holocene epoch. So the extinction of this species cannot be attributed to any climatic or any other natural changes. The reason for the extinction of the aurochs was both direct persecution by man (hunting) and his exclusion from natural environment habitation (agriculture, cattle breeding). On a vast range of their habitat, tours became extinct in different time. If we pay attention to the time of the disappearance of the aurochs in certain regions, it becomes clear that the aurochs died out primarily where a person first became civilized and "cultivated". So, in Egypt, the tour died out by the end of the ancient kingdom (before 2400 BC). In Mesopotamia, the aurochs "lasted" longer, where it met during the time of the Babylonian kingdom, but in later times of the Assyrian kingdom it apparently died out (about 600 BC). In Central Europe, tours were conducted much later - in the Middle Ages. In the XII century, aurochs existed in the wild along the Rhine, Dnieper, in particular in the Chernigov lands (Geptner, Nasimvochi, Bannikov, 1961).
By 1400 aurochs disappeared in Central and Western Europe, but were still found in the Kaliningrad region. The tours have survived the longest in Poland (especially in Mazovia) and partly in Lithuania. For the last centuries and until the date of the death of the last tour (1627), the animals lived here under the protection of special decrees, and then they were kept as park animals in the royal hunting grounds (Geptner, Nasimovich, Bannikov, 1961).
As has been noted more than once above, the tour is the ancestor of European cattle and is genetically very close to it. Cattle (European) essentially belong to the same species as the aurochs, that is, Bos primigenius. In some breeds of domestic bulls, the signs of the tour appear quite clearly. These breeds include Spanish fighting bulls, Scottish and English park cattle, Hungarian steppe cattle, gray Ukrainian cattle and some others.
© Based on the materials of the encyclopedia "Mammals Soviet Union”, volume one - “Artiodactyl and odd-toed ungulates” (V. G. Geptner, A. A. Nasimovich, A. G. Bannikov), 1961.
Scientists believe that most of the modern representatives of cattle descended from the animal round, which disappeared from the face of the Earth in the 17th century. Traditional songs about him, epics, riddles and sayings, ritual masks have been preserved in the folklore of the Western and Eastern Slavs - the ethnographic material associated with him is huge. It is captured in the petroglyphs of ancient people, depicted on the coat of arms of modern Moldavia, Kaunas, Turks. There is a monument to the animal in Estonia, and a stone in honor of the last dead auroch was erected in Poland (now the Lviv region). For centuries, people have been hunting these animals for meat and skins, testing their dexterity and prowess. The one who struck the bull could boldly call himself a hero. And although the last herd of 24 individuals was taken under legal protection and was located on the lands of the Polish king, the number was constantly decreasing. After 28 years, in 1627, there were no tours. Scientists believe that one of the reasons for its extinction is a weak genetic inheritance.
Scientists believe that most of the modern representatives of cattle descended from the animal aurochs.
12 thousand years ago, the height of wild males was 2 m, and the weight was 1 ton. Over time, they became smaller. More than 6,000-year-old aurochs were discovered in a cave in Derbshire, after which scientists from 6 institutes and universities in Great Britain and Ireland analyzed the genetic material. As a result, the complete sequence of the animal's methochondrial DNA was obtained for the first time.
Beautiful powerful and majestic wild bulls had strong horns up to 1 m long, curving in the form of a lyre and pointing forward. A ferocious animal could pierce a person through them, knock them down and trample them with their hooves. The females were reddish-brown, and the males were almost black in color with light stripes along the ridge, characteristic of wild animals. The shoulder hump stood out, the front part of the body is more developed than the back. The cow's wild ancestor had more long legs, a narrow, slightly elongated muzzle with a depressed forehead, the udder of the females was completely covered with hair and less noticeable.
Beautiful powerful and majestic wild bulls had strong horns up to 1 m long, curving in the shape of a lyre and pointing forward
wild bull tour lived in Europe, the Caucasus, in North Africa and Asia Minor for many millennia. Animals lived in herds, in which the female dominated, or alone. They ate, like all herbivores, foliage and grass, extracting shoots from under the snow in winter. Scientists suggest that the southern individuals were smaller and not as obstinate as compared to the northern ones. People began to domesticate them about 9 thousand years ago. The tamed animals survived. At first they were used only for meat and as draft power. They moved around the Earth with people, spreading beyond their natural ranges. As a result of the mutation, the physique became lighter and gradually they began to differ from the wild ancient bull.
In the 1920s and 30s, German scientists tried to recreate the extinct animal by backcrossing cattle. The result was a heka bull. It differs from the tour in size and color. Nowadays, similar experiments are carried out by scientists from Holland and Poland.
Gallery: animal tour and its descendants (25 photos)
All breeds of cows (video)
Descendants of the tour
There are several breeds of domestic bulls that resemble the tour. Closest to him is the gray Ukrainian breed, the weight of bulls which reaches 800-850 kg (maximum -1100 kg), and cows - 450-500 kg. Distributed from the Caspian and the Volga region to Spain and Portugal.
What does a bull of this breed look like? It is distinguished by well-developed muscles and high withers. Color gray or light grey. In bulls, the hair on the chest and legs is dark, the tips of the horns are black. Until now, the color has inherent properties that distinguished the wild ancestors of the cow: the coat changes color depending on the season. 100 years ago they were used as draft power. At good care a gray Ukrainian cow can give up to 20 liters of milk per day with a fat content of 5-8%. This breed has good immunity: in the middle of the last century, it was not affected by the plague and tuberculosis epidemics that brought down livestock.
The tur animal is the wild ancestor of the domesticated cow. The year of death of the species is precisely known - 1627. In that distant XII century, they tried to keep the last population of aurochs in the forests of Eastern Europe. However, it turned out to be too small to maintain the genotype of the species. So the last tours on Earth just faded away for genetic reasons. Most likely, they were killed by inbreeding, that is, closely related crossing, which accompanies all isolated small communities.
The tur animal is the wild ancestor of the domesticated cow
How the extinct wild bull looked like is known from rock paintings, descriptions and sketches of the period of book publishing, as well as on the remaining representatives of domesticated cows, which have retained the maximum similarity with their wild ancestor.
The closest relative of the tur is the Watussi bull. It is characterized by very long horns pierced by a system of blood vessels. The horns serve not only for defense and fights between males, but also for cooling the whole body. These cows are particularly survivable in severe conditions of heat, drought, scarcity of feed and abundance of predators.
For many tribes equatorial Africa watussi are almost the only source of food. Their natural properties were also evaluated by agricultural producers of the European type of economic organization. In the 1960s, Walter Schultz brought two bulls and one cow to the American continent. So African cows began to explore the expanses of America.
In the 20s of the same century in Germany, an attempt was made to reproduce cows that, in their qualities, were as close as possible to the wild ancestor. As a result, the hake bull was born. Germany of these times was already Nazi, so biological experiments on the reproduction of ancient bulls were highly politicized. Money was allocated to obtain a new breed of animals, in which the power of the body would be combined with a wild disposition.
It was decided to cross bison and bulls, which are used for bullfighting. The result should have been huge cows that have aggressiveness.
The breed of cows got its name from the names of two brothers who were engaged in these works. Partially, the brothers achieved their goal - the bulls turned out to be very aggressive. They rushed at people, animals, trees, fences. And here resemblance the tour failed. This breed was more like an enlarged version of domestic cows with a wild disposition.
Further work was stopped by the arrival of the war in Germany. Almost the entire breeding stock of hake bulls perished.
However, scientists did not rest on this. They are trying to restore the semblance of the tour in Holland. In our time of molecular biology and genetics, this is possible. However, in any case, the restored tour will be a phenotypic similarity to the ancestor. After all, nothing is known about the genome of this tour.
Gallery: animal tour (25 photos)
Tours of the Caucasus (video)
The main characteristics of the animal
The tour is an artiodactyl animal from the bovid family, a subfamily of bulls, a genus of real bulls.
Its range covered almost all of Europe, with the exception of Scandinavia. The Asian part of the range included the entire Middle East, Central Asia, southern Siberia, Far East. These bulls met in India and North Africa.
What does a bull look like that once inhabited most Eurasia? If we summarize all the information about this animal, we get the following characteristic of the species.
- The tour was a huge muscular beast. Its size was somewhat inferior to the parameters of a bison or bison, but still the ancestors of cows had the size and strength that could withstand such predators as a lion or a cheetah that once inhabited Central Asia and southern part Of Eastern Europe. The height of the tour at the withers was about 170-180 cm.
- The weight of a primitive bull ranged from 800 kg to a ton.
- The head was set high. This landing is dictated by the need to wear long sharp horns.
- The coloration of adult males was black, and a narrow white stripe. The females were smaller and lighter. Their coloration was reddish-brown.
The biggest wild bull in the world (video)
Biotope of ancestors of cows
The vast range of a large hoofed animal suggests that this ancestor of the cow could live in the steppes, forests and even in semi-deserts. However, the contours of the range were recreated based on paleontological finds, which does not always mean that the animal really was in its native biotope.
Such large animals usually live where there is a lot of grass. To feed in the taiga or in the thick mixed forest such large animals living in herds would hardly be able to.
Tours are animals of the steppes and forest-steppes. Their finds in arid zones indicate not so much that they could feed themselves in semi-deserts, but that at that time other plant communities existed in this place.
The existence of aurochs and bison in the forest zone was possible only under the condition of a high mosaicity of the forest, that is, a combination of thickets with light forests, clearings and edges. Under such conditions, huge herbivores could feed not only on grass, but also on branches of woody plants.
In the Middle East and North Africa, the aurochs were exterminated a very long time ago - in the third millennium BC. In Mesopotamia, there were no wild cows by 600 BC. e. This extermination was both direct and indirect. These animals were actively hunted, which, of course, reduced the number of populations. In parallel with this, there was an expansion of agriculture, which contributed to the expulsion of ungulates from their habitats.
It is not surprising that the last aurochs and bison survived in the dense forests of Eastern Europe. The remaining massifs of these forests are concentrated on the territory of two countries - Belarus and Poland. They are called Belovezhskaya Pushcha. For some reason, it was these forests, located almost in the center of Europe, that were not cut down, burned and plowed up. Tours and bison were saved in these forests not because there were especially good conditions. It was just that in these wilds it was more difficult for a person to hunt them.
Tours were less fortunate than bison. Indeed, by the time of the death of their last population, these animals were no longer in nature. The efforts of the local princes were somewhat belated and, apparently, were ineffective.
A similar situation developed by the middle of the 20th century with bison. During the war they were practically exterminated. The remaining individuals have already been rescued in captivity, but using the achievements of genetics. Having crossed several individuals with bison, it was possible to avoid the consequences of inbreeding.
In the Polish city of Yaktorov there is a monument to the last tour. This is a reminder to people that it is easy to exterminate a species, but difficult and sometimes impossible to preserve or restore.
In the black book of animals, you can find many species that man has destroyed by hunting, deforestation and pollution of the ecosystem. Each of these stories is unique and represents a horrific crime, but some of them are reminders of the confrontation between nature and humanity, as was the case with the primitive bull known as the tour.
This animal, finally extinct in 1627, is known as the ancestor of modern cattle.
Tours were destroyed for the sake of meat and fun, until these proud and strong animals were on the verge of complete disappearance, but even then, taking into account the laws on the protection of bulls, it was not possible to save the species.
Biological characteristics
The wild bull represented everything that bullfighters from Spain value in his "heirs". It was a strong animal, reaching a height of 180 centimeters at the withers. The color of the bulls of the tours was predominantly dark, the coat was thick and very hard. Such a bull weighed over 800 kilograms and could knock down a person at full speed and literally trample to death.
Comparative dimensions adult tour with a person
Distinctive feature in the wild tour, these are twisted and empty horns inside, as well as a kind of stripe of light wool on the spine. In addition to meat, the extinct species of bulls was incredibly valuable due to these same horns and skins.
Habitat
Approximate map with the habitat of the tour
Tur lived mainly in the forest-steppe zone throughout Europe and most of Asia, including the territory of Mongolia, China, Turkey and India.
The main period during which the maximum concentration of these animals fell was the second half of the Anthropogen.
At a time when the number of bulls was not yet controlled and they were freely shot, tours roamed the steppe huge herds. Later, groups of 6-10 individuals began to appear, and later even less.
Farming was the first reason for the gradual extinction of wild bulls. Field processing and forest areas forced the animals to migrate until the last of them died of old age or disease.
For 200 years before the last tour left this world, bulls inhabited only very remote, isolated wooded areas of Poland, Lithuania, Belarus. At that time, the tours were already protected by law, but the number of individuals was rapidly declining. By 1602, the number of bulls was reduced to 4 individuals, after which the complete extinction of the species became just a matter of time.
Death of the last bull
In 1627, the last round died in a wooded area near the village of Yaktorovo, which is located in the Lviv region of Ukraine. The cause of the bull's death was by no means hunting, since the population was already under the strictest protection, but from the disease.
An unknown virus has affected the genotype of an isolated herd, the last on Earth. The death of the tour served as a kind of sign for many animal rights activists around the world, even if this movement at that time was hardly in its infancy.
After that, attempts to revive the tour periodically appear in the world, which led to the appearance of several "hybrids", including fighting bulls.
Jokes with genetics
First known history an attempt to "resurrect" the tour was the experiments of Hitler, who dreamed of the history of the restoration of bright image Teutonic mythology.
The brothers Heinz and Lutz Heck tried to breed the aurochs by crossing three different breeds of livestock: the French Camargue, as well as bulls from Corsica and Scotland.
The entire population of Heck bulls, which, by the way, had appearance The tour, but of an accommodating disposition, was destroyed after the fall of the Nazi regime.
Later experiments were carried out by civilian laboratories in Western Europe.
On the this moment most successful artificial breeding cattle remains watoussi, which is common in Africa. Tur has never migrated so far south, so this subspecies differs significantly from the "original".
Why did the tur population die out?
There are two main versions of why the wild bull ceased to exist in its original form and became extinct.
Tour like an animal accustomed to certain type territories, the “humanization” of most wild lands was very hard. The gradual self-isolation of the aurochs led to the fact that the species became extinct, although it could assimilate with other breeds of livestock.
The second version is hunting. Bulls were not just desirable, but status prey, so every hunter considered it his duty to find and destroy such an animal. At the same time, the tour was not deprived natural enemies, for example, large cats and wolves.
Coupled with a rather slow reproductive cycle and the lack of numerous offspring, this led to the extinction of bulls.
Who is the closest "relative" of the tour
The closest to the phenotype of the European subspecies of the tour is the Spanish fighting bull. The tur was a wild animal and practically did not succumb to domestication, such a temper is highly demanded in bullfighting, the Spanish bullfight.
In addition, several varieties of livestock in Europe have inherited certain genotype traits from the aurochs, such as twisted horns. However, no animal has reached the same size or come close to reconstructing the full biological picture of the subspecies.
The tour is imprinted on the coat of arms of Moldova in memory of dead form. Some zoologists state that the aurochs may well have given rise to most of the current types of domestic cattle, but were much hardier and stronger.
This could be a significant advantage and even partially solve the problems of the meat and dairy industry.
The death of the last tour not only erased all traces of a whole species of animals, it again proved that the most scary predator on earth is a man.