Bubalus
Bubalus
Genus of bovines
Bubalus is a genus of Asiatic bovines that was proposed by Charles Hamilton Smith in 1827. Bubalus and Syncerus form the subtribe Bubalina, the true buffaloes.
| Bubalus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Bovidae |
| Subfamily: | Bovinae |
| Subtribe: | Bubalina |
| Genus: | Bubalus C. H. Smith, 1827 |
| Type species | |
| Bos bubalis Linnaeus, 1758 | |
| Species | |
|
Bubalus arnee | |
The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature and classification of domestic animals as species, subspecies, races or breeds has been discussed controversially for many years and was inconsistent between authors.[1] Assessors of the Food and Agriculture Organization consider domestic water buffalo populations as breeds.[2]
Bubalus species comprise the domestic water buffalo (B. bubalis), the wild water buffalo (B. arnee), the tamaraw (B. mindorensis), the lowland anoa (B. depressicornis), and the mountain anoa (B. quarlesi).[3] The latter two anoa species were proposed to form a subgenus Anoa within Bubalus.[4]
.jpg){kind=link}
Smith described Bubalus as low in proportion to the bulk with very solid limbs, a small dewlap and a long, slender tail; the head is large with a strong convex-shaped narrow forehead, large eyes and funnel-shaped ears; horns are lying flat or bending laterally with a certain direction to the rear; the female udder has four mammae.[5] Lydekker added that the line of back is nearly straight with 13 pairs of ribs; the tail is tufted and reaching about to the hocks; the horns are more or less markedly triangular for the greater part of their length and situated low down on the skull; the muzzle is broad, and the hair sparse in adults.[6]
This genus comprises the following living species:[7]
| Image | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic water buffalo B. bubalis Linnaeus, 1758 | Domestic in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and China; feral populations exist in South America and Australia | |
| Wild water buffalo B. arnee Kerr, 1792 | Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia | |
| Lowland anoa B. depressicornis Smith, 1827 | Sulawesi in Indonesia | |
| Tamaraw B. mindorensis Heude, 1888 | Mindoro in the Philippines | |
| Mountain anoa B. quarlesi Ouwens, 1910 | Sulawesi | |
_(cropped).jpg){kind=link}
Valid names
The 2013 checklist of the Catalogue of Life lists as "accepted" five species binomina in the genus Bubalus:
- Bubalus bubalis Linnaeus, 1758
- Bubalus depressicornis Smith, 1827
- Bubalus mephistopheles Hopwood, 1925
- Bubalus mindorensis Heude, 1888
- Bubalus quarlesi Ouwens, 1910
Bubalus arnee is not listed here.[8]
The Integrated Taxonomic Information System lists the same five species binomina as valid; it also lists as valid six subspecies of Bubalus bubalis:[9]
Fossil species
The following extinct fossil species have been described:
- Bubalus brevicornis - Young, 1936
- Bubalus cebuensis (Cebu tamaraw) - Croft, Heaney, Flynn and Bautista, 2006[10]
- Bubalus fudi - Guo, 2008 - (possibly a subspecies of Bubalus wansijocki)
- Bubalus grovesi - Rozzi, 2017[11]
- Bubalus mephistopheles (Short-horned water buffalo) - Hopwood, 1925[12]
- Bubalus murrensis (European water buffalo) - Berckhemer, 1927[13]
- Bubalus palaeokerabau (Long-horned Javan water buffalo) - E. Dubois, 1908[14]
- Bubalus platyceros - Lydekker, 1877
- Bubalus teilhardi - Young, 1932
- Bubalus wansijocki - Chardin, 1928
- Bubalus youngi - Chow and Hsu, 1957
- Gentry, A.; Clutton-Brock, J. & Groves, C. P. (2004). "The naming of wild animal species and their domestic derivatives" (PDF). Journal of Archaeological Science. 31 (5): 645–651. Bibcode:2004JArSc..31..645G. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2003.10.006. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09.
- FAO (2013). Breeds from species: Buffalo. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
- Minervino, A. H. H.; Zava, M.; Vecchio, D. & Borghese, A. (2020). "Bubalus bubalis: A Short Story". Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 7: 570413. doi:10.3389/fvets.2020.570413. PMC 7736047. PMID 33335917.
- Burton, J. A.; Hedges, S. & Mustari, A. H. (2005). "The taxonomic status, distribution and conservation of the lowland anoa Bubalus depressicornis and mountain anoa Bubalus quarlesi" (PDF). Mammal Review. 35 (1): 25–50. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2907.2005.00048.x. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09.[dead link]
- Smith, C. H. (1827). "Sub-genus I. Bubalus". In Griffith, E. (ed.). The animal kingdom arranged in conformity with its organization. Class Mammalia, Volume 5. London: Geo. B. Whittaker. pp. 371–373.
- Lydekker, R. (1913). "Subgenus Bubalus". Catalogue of the ungulate mammals in the British Museum (Natural History). London: British Museum (Natural History). p. 40.
- Groves, C.; Grubb, P. (2011). Ungulate Taxonomy. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-1421400938.
- ITIS Results of: Search in every Kingdom for Scientific Name containing 'Bubalus' Archived March 12, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed january 2014.
- Croft, D. A., Heaney, L. R., Flynn, J. J., Bautista, A. P. (2006). Fossil remains of a new, diminutive Bubalus (Artiodactyla: Bovidae: Bovini) from Cebu island, Philippines. Journal of Mammalogy 87(#5): 1037–1051.
- Rozzi, Roberto (2017). "A new extinct dwarfed buffalo from Sulawesi and the evolution of the subgenus Anoa: An interdisciplinary perspective". Quaternary Science Reviews. 157: 188–205. Bibcode:2017QSRv..157..188R. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.12.011.
- Hopwood, A. T. (1925). "A new species of buffalo from the Pleistocene of China". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 9. XVI (92): 238–239. doi:10.1080/00222932508633297.
- Schreiber, H. D., Munk, W. (2002). A skull fragment of Bubalus murrensis (Berckhemer, 1927) (Mammalia, Bovinae) from the Pleistocene of Bruchsal-Buchenau (NE-Karlsruhe, SW-Germany). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie (12): 737–748.
