Giant cattle to be bred back from extinction
Submitted by coldrum on Sunday, 24 January 2010 Page Views: 1622
Other ArchaeologyAurochs were immortalised in prehistoric cave paintings and admired for their brute strength and "elephantine" size by Julius Caesar. But despite their having gone the way of the dodo and the woolly mammoth, there are plans to bring the giant animals back to life.Italian scientists are hoping to use genetic expertise and selective breeding of modern-day wild cattle to recreate the fearsome beasts which weighed around 2,200lb and stood 6.5 feet at the shoulder.
Breeds of large cattle which most closely resemble Bos primigenius, such as Highland cattle and the white Maremma breed from Italy, are being bred with each other in a technique known as "back-breeding".
At the same time, scientists say they have for the first time created a map of the auroch's genome, so that they know precisely what type of animal they are trying to replicate.
"We were able to analyse auroch DNA from preserved bone material and create a rough map of its genome that should allow us to breed animals nearly identical to aurochs," said team leader Donato Matassino, head of the Consortium for Experimental Biotechnology in Benevento, in the southern Campania region.
The breed was declared extinct in 1627 after a female died in the forests of Poland. Aurochs are depicted in paintings found on the walls of cave galleries such as those at Lascaux in France and Altamira in Spain. Caesar described them in The Gallic Wars as being "a little below the elephant in size" and a favourite hunting prey for wild Germanic tribesmen.
Many geneticists argue that though the Heck may resemble their ancient forebears, they will be genetically very different.
"There are a number of rare breeds that have been brought back to life in recent years, such as the Cumberland pig," said Dr Claire Barber, from the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. "But our view is that what has been recreated is something that looks like the old breed, but which is not genetically the same.
For more, see www.telegraph.co.uk.
Note: "There would be some serious management issues– for instance, you might have to sedate them with dart guns. You wouldn't want to try to milk one." -Rare Breeds Survival Trust.
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