Trunk length of the aurochs and the mysterious Cambridge specimen

In Cis van Vuure’s classical Retracing the aurochs it is written that the shoulder height of the aurochs nearly equaled the trunk length, in contrast to most domestic cattle where the trunk is longer. Somehow “nearly equals” became “equals” in my memory, although I read the book several times and it also cites a source that gives precise data, namely that the height of the withers to the trunk length ratio varied 1:1,02 to 1:1,1. One has to be cautious, however, because the withers height is influenced by the length of the spinal processes in the shoulder region, which may vary from individual to individual and differs between the sexes. So calculated the ratio between the height of the upper margin of the shoulder blade and the trunk length using photos of 10 aurochs skeletons in lateral view. 

There is also a written remark of the trunk length of the aurochs by a person who visited living ones, Anton Schneeberger. He states in his letter to Conrad Gesner that the cows are “not as long” as the bulls. 

 

Specimen	Sex	Ratio of shoulder blade height to trunk length
Braunschweig	male	1:1,14
Friemersdorf	male	1:1,11
Hammerslöv	male	1:1,15
Prejlerup	male	1:1,06
Sassenberg male	male	1:1,17
Store-damme	male	1:1,17
Vig	male	1:1,11
Sassenberg female	female	1:1,03
Cambridge	? female	1:1,19
Mönchengladbach	? female	1:1,17

 

The Sassenberg cow is the only mounted specimen of the European aurochs which I am highly confident that it is from a cow, because of its entire morphology. For the Mönchengladbach and Cambridge specimen, I am not so sure. Especially the Cambridge one puzzles me. The morphology of its postcranial skeleton resembles that of unambiguously male specimen, such as the Prejlerup specimen, f.e. because of the relatively long and massive spinal processes in the shoulder region. The skull, however, looks very feminine compared to definitely male skulls such as the London one, because of its barely protruding orbital bosses and the overall gracile build. Also, the Cambridge skeleton is merely 145 cm tall, what would be 150-155 cm in life, which is suggestive of a cow, particularly from Northern Europe. 

The Sassenberg cow has the shortest trunk, barely longer than the height of the shoulder blade. This fits the historic description by Schneeberger. As it happens, the Cambridge specimen has the greatest relative trunk length. This could have various reasons: 

- The Cambridge skeleton is from an – extraordinarily small – bull  

- Trunk length is not a reliable indicator of sex in the aurochs 

- The sample size is too small to determine anything 

Actually, I consider the third reason the most likely one. Guessing by eye, it was always my impression that in domestic cattle the cows are shorter than the bulls too, but I have no reference at hand confirming this. It would be interesting to investigate this thoroughly with osteometric measurments. 

New photos of the Watussi-influenced Auerrind cattle

 Here are some new photos of Watussi-influenced Auerrind cattle: 

© Yannick Weinand

These photos show the Watussi x Chianina cow. It is interesting to see its phenotype develop, as this combination bears a huge potential for future crossbreeds.

 

All the subsequent photos are © Claus Kropp

This is the (Sayaguesa x Hungarian Grey) x (Sayaguesa x Watussi). It looks great, it has a perfect aurochs colour and a very long snout, much of the Sayaguesa-appeal. 

This cow is the Chianina x (Sayaguesa x Watussi). Her morphology is very good, and her light but not diluted colour endorses the suspicion that Chianina has some degree of sexual dichromatism masked by the dilution alleles. Also the snout is very long. 

This is one of the Maremmana x Sayaguesa cows with the Sayaguesa x Chianina bull behind it. This combination bears good potential, Chianina and Sayaguesa bring the size, Maremmana horn length and a good winter coat. 

This young bull is (Watussi x Sayaguesa) x (Watussi x Chianina). It's great that this combination exists, it has the potential for tremendous horns and the colour is right as well. 

This is the (Sayaguesa x Grey) x (Sayaguesa x Watussi) bull, a combination which I think bears great potential. The horns seem to grow huge, especially considering that the bull is not even 3 years old (!). 

I have to say that I am very happy with how the Auerrind project is progressing. Those are great animals with a lot of potential for even better future crosses.