Both "aur" and "ur" are Germanic or Celtic words meaning "wild ox". In Old High German this word was compounded with … See more

The scientific name Bos taurus was introduced by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 for feral cattle in Poland. The scientific name Bos primigenius was proposed for the aurochs by Ludwig Heinrich Bojanus who described the skeleta… See more

According to a 16th century description by Sigismund von Herberstein, the aurochs was pitch-black with a grey streak along the back; his wood carving made in 1556 was based on a culled aurochs, which he had received in … See more

The aurochs was widely distributed in North Africa, Mesopotamia, and throughout Europe to the Pontic–Caspian steppe, Caucasus and Western Siberia in the west and to the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in the north. … See more

Aurochs formed small herds mainly in winter, but typically lived singly or in smaller groups during the summer. If aurochs had social behaviour similar to their descendants, social status would have been gaine… See more

Acheulean layers in Hunasagi on India's southern Deccan Plateau yielded aurochs bones with cut marks. An aurochs bone with cut marks induced with flint was found in a Middle Paleolithic layer at the Nesher Ramla Homo site … See more