How the Heck brothers could have done their work better

In a post from 2015, I evaluated the “breeding-back” experiments executed by Heinz and Lutz Heck. I came to the conclusion that they made several technical mistakes and could have done their work better given the circumstances of their time. This post is going to look at how they could have done their experiments better using the possibilities they had when they started in the 1920s. 

 

Step 1: Getting an accurate picture of the aurochs 

 

One of the reasons why the Heck brothers failed at creating a phenotypic copy of the aurochs is that they did not have an accurate, precise picture of the aurochs. They did research, and they also resolved at least some coat colour traits of the animal, but the picture of the aurochs they had included errors and needless speculations such as a red dorsal stripe instead of a grey one as the historic evidence suggest, or a greyish tone in the colour of the cows. The biggest problem was that they failed to recognize the morphology of the aurochs. Apparently, they never saw a mounted aurochs specimen or if they saw one, they did not take a close look at it. Doing so would have told them that the trunk of the aurochs was much shorter than in domestic cattle, that the legs were longer, the head larger and more elongated, and that aurochs had a hump formed by long spinal processes in the shoulder region. Surely, it was not as easy to see a mounted aurochs skeleton as it is today (a quick google search is enough to find photos nowadays), but there were more or less complete aurochs skeletons back this time in Germany (at least the Haßleben specimen which was described in 1827). They did not study the skeletal remains of aurochs, thus the most important part of the aurochs’ life appearance, the morphology, played no role in the projects of the Heck brothers. 

They could have done better by looking for a museum that would have had a mounted aurochs specimen and study its differences to modern cattle. Their research on the colour of the aurochs should not have included baseless speculations, but rather they should have strictly followed what the historic evidence that was available to them inferred. Doing that would have enabled them to get a pretty accurate picture of the European aurochs’ morphology and life appearance even back in the 1920s. 

 

Step 2: Creating a strict breeding goal and not ignoring certain traits 

 

Before starting any breeding, it would have been vital to set up breeding criteria that are based on what has been found out about the aurochs’ life appearance. The Heck brothers did not have a clear breeding goal because they did not have a precise picture of the aurochs. Furthermore, they ignored certain traits. Body size was ignored, udder size was ignored, the morphology was not recognized. Thus, anything that roughly met the Heck brothers’ idea of the coat colour of the aurochs and had longer horns would have matched their rather wide selection criteria. Therefore, it is not surprising that they announced success after a few years of breeding, since their breeding goal was not clearly defined. If the Heck brothers had created a clear catalogue of traits the cattle should have that also included all the traits found in the aurochs and not only some, their breeding would have been much more efficient. 

 

Step 3: Finding suitable breeds

 

This step was without doubt the trickiest of all, because back this time there was much less information available. It was unknown where the aurochs was domesticated, were the most aurochs-like breeds would be found and there were barely any breeding associations to contact and no internet. The brothers, however, did find out that many Iberian breeds show traits of the aurochs. Lutz Heck was particularly impressed by the Spanish fighting bull, which is indeed one of the most aurochs-like breeds that are still around. Heinz Heck, on the other hand, did not use the Spanish fighting bull but included a number of derived breeds, because he hoped that they carry invisible aurochs traits that would surface again when crossed with more primitive breeds. This hope, however, did not fulfil. Retrospectively, it was a mistake to include derived breeds such as Black-pied lowland cattle, Murnau-Werdenfelser and others. The set of breeds selected by the Heck brothers was thus not ideal. The fact that they ignored certain traits (body size, udder size) or did not recognize them (morphology), was another reason why their set of breeds was not ideal. Thus, if the Heck brothers would have known about the morphology of the aurochs and cared about size, they would have looked for breeds that add these traits. If they would have stumbled across Chianina while searching for large breeds, they would have found a breed that adds large size and long legs and to a certain degree small udders. Lutz Heck recognized that Watussi can have aurochs-like horns but did not use that breed. Using it would have considerably increased the size of the horns of their cattle and would have compensated the small horns of other breeds used. Thus, if the Heck brothers would have used a different set of breeds, the result would have been much more aurochs-like. Corsican, Camargue and Lidia are breeds that were used (Lidia only by Lutz Heck), they were valuable because they contributed the right colour (Corsican) or had an athletic morphology (Camargue and Lidia). If they sticked with those three breeds, and maybe also Podolian cattle (for the cold resistance and winter coat), but would not have used the derived ones, and included Watussi and Chianina, the potential for an aurochs-like outcome would have been much larger than it was with the set of breeds they chose. A mix of Corsican, Camargue, Lidia, Chianina, Watussi and perhaps a Podolian breed would have had great potential. 

 

Step 4: Strict selective breeding focusing on the breeding goal 

 

As the Heck brothers did not have a very precise breeding goal, they barely carried out strict selection, leading to a very heterogeneous result. More precise selection criteria and strict selective breeding would have created a more aurochs-like outcome. 

 

Step 5: Setting up a studbook and ensuring that selective breeding is maintained while the breed is expanded to other locations 

 

It was certainly sloppy that the Heck brothers did not set up a studbook for their cattle. Also, the fact that there was no official catalogue containing selection criteria that they themselves and other breeders should have followed created chaos when the population was expanded to other locations. Some breeders selected their cattle for an aurochs-like appearance, such as the Wildgehege Neandertal, others did not, and Heck cattle became a very heterogeneous breed. Creating a catalogue with selection criteria that are based on the aurochs could have prevented this at least to a certain degree.  

 

If the Heck brothers did those five steps, and if the breeders that came after them sticked to the selection criteria, the resulting cattle would not only be better than Heck cattle as they are now, they would even be a lot better. I would even say, we could have the cattle of our dreams now if the Heck brothers would have done their work more thoroughly. Almost 100 years of efficient selective breeding is enough to create a homogeneous but genetically diverse breed of cattle with the right colour, large or even very large size, the right morphology and horns and a sufficient winter coat. Modern “breeding-back” projects are on a good way, but it will take its time until the goal is accomplished. If the Heck brothers did their work more thoroughly, that goal possibly might have been reached now in 2022.