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Cattle or cows (females) and bulls (males) are the most common type of large domestic ungulates. They are an outstanding modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, the most common species in the genus Bos and are most often collectively classified as Bos taurus.

Cattle are usually raised like cattle for meat (beef or veal, see Beef cattle), milk (see Dairy cattle) and for hides used to produce leathers. They are used as riding and draft animals (bulls or bulls that pull carts, ploughs and other tools). Another cattle product is manure, which can be used to create waste or fuel. For example, in some regions of India, cattle are of great religious importance in some areas. Cattle, mainly small breeds such as miniature zebu, are also kept as pets.

About 10,500 years ago, taurine cattle were tamed by only 80 ancestors in central Anatolia, the Levant and Western Iran. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), there will be about 1.5 billion head of cattle in the world by 2018. In 2009, cattle became one of the first animals with a fully mapped genome.

Initially, cattle were identified as three distinct species: Bos taurus, European or “taurine” livestock (including similar species from Africa and Asia); Bos indicus, Indian or “zebu”; and the extinct Bos primigenius, euros. Bison – successor to zebu and taurine

The word “cow” comes from the Anglo-Saxon cū (plural cȳ), from the common Indo-European gʷōus (genitive gʷowés) = “cattle”, cf. Persian: gâv, Sanskrit: go-, Welsh: a bunch. The plural cȳ became ki or kie in Middle English, and an additional plural ending was often added to give kine, Kien, and keys, kuin, and others. This is the origin of the already archaic English plural “kine”. The Scottish singular is coo or cou, and the plural is kye.

In old English sources such as the King James Bible, “cattle” refers to cattle instead of “deer“, which refers to wildlife. “Wild cows” can refer to wild cows or non-domesticated species of the genus Bos. Today, when used without another qualifier, the modern meaning of the word “cattle” is usually limited to livestock.

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