Sunday, 23 July 2017

Another aurochs bull reconstruction

Sometimes, photos of living cattle inspire me to do aurochs drawings, often based on some anatomical details, such as when the body shape or skull shape is exactly like I would imagine it for an aurochs. In the case of the photo of this Eringer bull, it was the coat that inspired me. Not its colour, which is probably alright (I assume that the dorsal stripe is not visible in this position), but the curly hair on its face, forehead, neck and shoulders. While historic account confirm the presence of curly hair only on the forehead, I believe that more extensive curly hair could have been a trait for at least some European aurochs bulls. For details, go here: Forelocks and manes

So I decided to to a standard aurochs bull in the same position as the Eringer bull with the same kind of coat. My bull is roughly based on my recent reconstructions of the Braunschweig and Sassenberg bulls, and also has pretty much standard horns. 
I say that like in the Eringer bull, a narrow eel stripe would not be visible from that position. The mealy mouth would be a bit reduced, as it is a mature, perhaps a bit old bull. 

1 comment:

  1. Hi Daniel,
    In my italian region (Aosta valley) eringer cattle is common and called castana valdostana. Ours bulls don't have evident dorsal stripes and this character could be present in the bull that inspired you.
    Rudy

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