buffalo

In the German language, buffalo refers to several species of African and Asian cattle (Bovini) belonging to the genera Bubalus and Syncerus . The best known of these are the Asian water buffalo ( Bubalus arnee ) and the African Cape buffalo ( Syncerus caffer ). Colloquially, but not in official species names, the American bison is also referred to as a buffalo or Indian buffalo.

Systematic position of the buffalo

Cape buffalo ( Syncerus caffer ) representing the African buffalo

Classic taxonomy

The African buffalo ( Syncerus ) differ fundamentally from the Asiatic ones by their horn construction. In the African buffalo, the horn is pushed downwards through increased cell formation on the inside of the horn. This creates so much horny substance at the base that the horn bases meet in the middle of the forehead and form a bulge.

The conceptual combination of Asian and African buffalo and thus the differentiation from the other cattle was arbitrary. According to the classical system, they are not an independent systematic group, but a polyphyletic compilation of different types of cattle. However, the Asiatic buffalo ( Bubalus ) are a monophyletic genus .

Phylogenetic systematics

Water buffalo ( Bubalus arnee ) representing the Asian buffalo

According to genetic studies by Alexandre Hassanin and Anne Ropiquet in 2004, however, Asian and African buffalo are a monophyletic unit , at least at the level of mitochondrial DNA . It should be noted, however, that an examination of mitochondrial DNA only describes matrileneal relationships and thus only a small section of the possible relationships.

The relationship between the buffalo is shown according to Zurano et al. 2019 as follows:

Bovini

Pseudoryx nghetinhensis (Vietnamese forest cattle)

Syncerus caffer (Cape buffalo)

	Bubalus arnee (water buffalo)

	Bubalus mindorensis (Tamarau)

	Bubalus quarlesi (Mountain Anoa)

	Bubalus depressicornis (Lowland Anoa)

	Bos ( bison ) bonasus (wisent)

	Bos primigenius (aurochs)

	Bos mutus (yak)

	Bos ( bison ) bison (American bison)

Bos sauveli (Kouprey)

	Bos javanicus (Banteng)

	Bos gaurus (Gaur)

Notes: Bos primigenius is shown here in a simplified manner; in fact the two domesticated forms , the domestic cattle ( Bos taurus ) and the zebu ( Bos indicus ), were examined; According to this study, bison and aurochs are compared to the American bison and the other Bos species in mitochondrial terms . A comprehensive investigation of the relationships between the cattle, including the nuclear DNA ( nuclear DNA ), is still pending.

literature

A buffalo hunt . In: The Gazebo . Issue 48, 1853, pp. 528-531 ( full text [ Wikisource ]).

Web links

Wiktionary: Buffalo - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

↑ Alexandre Hassanin and Anne Ropiquet: Molecular phylogeny of the tribe Bovini (Bovidae, Bovinae) and the taxonomic status of the Kouprey, Bos sauveli Urbain 1937. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 33 (3), 2004, pp. 896-907, doi: 10.1016 / j.ympev.2004.08.009
↑ Juan P. Zurano, Felipe M. Magalhães, Ana E. Asato, Gabriel Silva, Claudio J. Bidau, Daniel O. Mesquita and Gabriel C. Costa: Cetartiodactyla: Updating a time-calibrated molecular phylogeny. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 133, 2019, pp. 256-262, doi: 10.1016 / j.ympev.2018.12.015

[1] Alexandre Hassanin and Anne Ropiquet: Molecular phylogeny of the tribe Bovini (Bovidae, Bovinae) and the taxonomic status of the Kouprey, Bos sauveli Urbain 1937. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 33 (3), 2004, pp. 896-907, doi: 10.1016 / j.ympev.2004.08.009

[Zurano_et_al._2019-2] Juan P. Zurano, Felipe M. Magalhães, Ana E. Asato, Gabriel Silva, Claudio J. Bidau, Daniel O. Mesquita and Gabriel C. Costa: Cetartiodactyla: Updating a time-calibrated molecular phylogeny. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 133, 2019, pp. 256-262, doi: 10.1016 / j.ympev.2018.12.015