Ancient DNA brings to life history of the iconic aurochs, whose tale is intertwined with climate change and human culture

EurekAlert! ^ | October 30, 2024 | Trinity College Dublin

[SunkenCiv]

Geneticists from Trinity College Dublin, together with an international team of researchers, have deciphered the prehistory of aurochs – the animals that were the focus of some of the most iconic early human art – by analysing 38 genomes harvested from bones dating across 50 millennia and stretching from Siberia to Britain.

The aurochs roamed in Europe, Asia and Africa for hundreds of thousands of years. Adorned as paintings on many a cave wall, their domestication to create cattle gave us a harnessed source of muscle, meat and milk. Such was the influence of this domestication that today their descendants make up a third of the world’s mammalian biomass.

[yesthatjallen]

I remember when that happened. They were ordered slaughter because they were previously resurrected by the Nazis.

Aurochs: How Hitler and Goering resurrected extinct species to make 'Nazi super cows'

[Rockingham]

Domesticated aurochs also changed the human genome and human migration and development by fostering an advantageous tolerance for lactose and milk protein in adults. This made it possible for groups of early humans to rely on their herds of aurochs as a food source as they migrated throughout Europe, displacing early Neolithic peoples.

Evidence is also now to the effect that the founding populations of modern Europe came from the steppes of what is now Russian occupied eastern Ukraine, bringing with them the Indo-European languages and corded ware culture. Europeans thus can be said to be descended from cowboys.

[Red Badger]

That’s real kine of you.................

[Red Badger]

Looks like my family reunion...........

[SunkenCiv]

I was certain some had never herd about this.

[Red Badger]

They should be able to recreate aurochs, but they wouldn’t like what they got.

Big, unruly and mean...............

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

In Tacitus there is the story of the Romans imposing a tax on the Gauls The tax was in the form of cattle hides. When asked if it was the BIG or small cattle the hides were to come from the Romans said they wanted the Big Hides. This led to a tax revolt as the big cattle were too dangerous to mess with.
Would these be the aurochs?

[SunkenCiv]

After the Romans started shipping in wine, the Gauls didn’t give a **** what size they were. ;^)

Probably the problem was, a lack of large hides, and all the cattle were probably more like aurochs than they are now. :^)

[ridesthemiles]

FORERUNNER OF TEXAS LONGHORNS ???

[SunkenCiv]

Time to hire new staff. And make sure the ones killed on the job don’t get paid for the full day. /jk

[Does so]

“The aurochs were a species of wild bull that had once roamed the forests of Europe but were hunted to extinction...”

Alas, poor Aurochs...

[Governor Dinwiddie]

#31: "Alas, poor Aurochs..."

I knew him, Horatio.

[SunkenCiv]

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