Writing About Cows

Many Aurochs related papers are heavily interested in genetics. There is a reason for that, of course, and the reason is that the most interesting Aurochs related questions are often tied in with the retro-breeding programs and genetics. Here and there is peppered an interesting history paper. These typically retrace the histories of Aurochs and human beings interacting, in part at least. The genetics studies, however, are often used to debate the origin of domesticated cattle, which is a very interesting debate given that the majority of sources tell us emphatically that the domestic cattle globally are originally from some group of Aurochs. These include points for, against, and on-the-fence studies that favor hybridization of lineages of cattle with Aurochs. There are even some that ignore the argument entirely and focus on the genetics of the animals. The results are good enough that some confidently attest to possessing an entire mitochondrial genome. That mitochondrial genome had to be discovered somewhere, so of course we have that study as well.