Beefalo

Beefalo
Beefalo bull
Beefalo bull
Domesticated
Scientific classificationEdit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Bovinae
Tribe: Bovini
Subtribe: Bovina
Hybrid: Bos taurus × Bison bison

Beefalo constitutes a hybrid offspring of domestic cattle (Bos taurus), usually a male in managed breeding programs, and the American bison (Bison bison), usually a female in managed breeding programs.[1][2] The breed was created to combine the characteristics of both animals for beef production.

Beefalo are primarily cattle in genetics and appearance, with the breed association defining a full Beefalo as one with three-eighths (37.5%) bison genetics, while animals with higher percentages of bison genetics are called "bison hybrids".[3] However, genomic analysis has found that the vast majority of "Beefalo", even those considered pedigree by the breed association, have no detectable bison ancestry, with no sampled Beefalo having higher than 18% bison ancestry, with most "Beefalo" consisting of a mixture of taurine cattle and zebu cattle ancestry.[4]

  1. ^ Porter, Valerie (2008). The Field Guide to Cattle. Voyageur Press. p. 70. ISBN 978-0-7603-3192-7. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  2. ^ Drew, K. R.; Baskin, L. M. (1989). Wildlife Production Systems: Economic Utilisation of Wild Ungulates. CUP Archive. p. 354. ISBN 978-0-521-34099-1. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  3. ^ "Breeds – Beefalo". The Cattle Site. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  4. ^ Shapiro, Beth; et al. (2024). "Most Beefalo cattle have no detectable bison genetic ancestry". eLife. 13. doi:10.7554/elife.102750.1.sa3.

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