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The Kouprey (Ox/ Cambodia): Extinct?

ramonmercado

ramonmercado

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Oxen feared extinct may never have existed

U.S. scientists say a species of ox discovered in Cambodia in 1937 and hailed as one of the 20th century's most famous finds might never have existed.

The kouprey -- an ox with dramatic, curving horns -- has been an icon of Southeast Asian conservation since its recognition as a new species. Feared extinct, it's been the object of many expeditions to the Cambodian jungles.

But now Northwestern University biologists have presented genetic evidence suggesting the kouprey might never have existed as a wild, natural species.

The researchers compared kouprey DNA with DNA from a Cambodian wild ox, the banteng. The researchers predicted they'd find the kouprey was a hybrid and would show mitochondrial DNA similar to that of the banteng. The prediction was confirmed by the DBA analysis.

"The kouprey has acquired a rather romantic, exotic reputation," said Gary Galbreath, senior author of the study and associate director of Northwestern's Program in Biological Sciences. "Some people would understandably be sad to see it dethroned as a species."

But, added Galbreath, "In the end, good science is about what is true, not what is desired to be true."

The research appears in the Journal of Zoology.
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http://www.physorg.com/printnews.php?newsid=78080701
 
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The debate over whether the kouprey (Bos sauveli) is - or ever was - a distinct species continued after the above-cited 2006 research report.
... In 2006, a controversial paper claiming to look at genetic evidence concluded that the hybrid explanation was correct. For many naturalists, it was a logical conclusion. Many sources, such as Jose R. Castello’s Bovids of the World, note that kouprey were often observed in mixed herds with banteng and feral water buffalo. If you have a bunch of similar species mixing it up, you might expect hybrids.

And as stated previously, there is considerable variation in the horn sizes and shapes of cattle. So the idea that wild banteng and feral cattle bred (which happens), and resulted in the kouprey, made sense. It gathered a lot of media attention. Perhaps it absolved humanity of a little guilt. We didn’t eliminate the kouprey; it was basically just a cow after all.

A year later, another team of researchers did a much more thorough genetic analysis, including a kouprey skull found that dated before cattle domestication. This resulted in a peer-reviewed paper that demonstrated, definitively, that the kouprey was a real and naturally occurring animal. ...
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SOURCE: https://blog.nature.org/science/2021/11/08/kouprey-the-ultimate-mystery-mammal/
 
According to Wikipedia, the authors of the 2006 study "rescinded their conclusions" ...
Research published by Northwestern University in London's Journal of Zoology indicated a comparison of mitochondrial sequences showed the kouprey might be a hybrid between a zebu and a banteng. However, the authors of this study rescinded their conclusion. Because a fossilized skull was found dating from the late Pleistocene or early Holocene epoch, they concluded the kouprey is not a hybrid. More recent genetic analysis has supported this position.
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SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kouprey
 
There doesn't seem to be a final / definitive answer ...

This more wide-ranging 2021 study concluded the history of east Asian Bos (bison / cattle) speciation is very complex, including probable shifts between new speciation and hybridization among both newer and older species.

Mikkel-Holger S. Sinding, Marta M. Ciucani, Jazmín Ramos-Madrigal, Alberto Carmagnini, Jacob Agerbo Rasmussen, Shaohong Feng, Guangji Chen, Filipe G. Vieira, Valeria Mattiangeli, Rajinder K. Ganjoo, Greger Larson, Thomas Sicheritz-Pontén, Bent Petersen, Laurent Frantz, M. Thomas P. Gilbert, Daniel G. Bradley,
Kouprey (Bos sauveli) genomes unveil polytomic origin of wild Asian Bos
iScience, Volume 24, Issue 11, 2021, 103226, ISSN 2589-0042.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2021.103226.

Abstract: Summary
The evolution of the genera Bos and Bison, and the nature of gene flow between wild and domestic species, is poorly understood, with genomic data of wild species being limited. We generated two genomes from the likely extinct kouprey (Bos sauveli) and analyzed them alongside other Bos and Bison genomes. We found that B. sauveli possessed genomic signatures characteristic of an independent species closely related to Bos javanicus and Bos gaurus. We found evidence for extensive incomplete lineage sorting across the three species, consistent with a polytomic diversification of the major ancestry in the group, potentially followed by secondary gene flow. Finally, we detected significant gene flow from an unsampled Asian Bos-like source into East Asian zebu cattle, demonstrating both that the full genomic diversity and evolutionary history of the Bos complex has yet to be elucidated and that museum specimens and ancient DNA are valuable resources to do so.

SOURCE: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004221011949
 
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brownmane said:
Wow that is a beautiful animal. Do they think it died out, or crossbred with other bovine species?

Edited to add "never mind". I see the Wiki page lists the usual human practices - over hunting for food, traditional Chinese medicines - as well as, diseases from other bovine species and habitat loss. Sad.
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A bit of everything, habitat loss, hunting, bullshit chinese 'medicine' (read backwards quackery like rhino horn) and outbreeding with other bovines.
 
Couldnt they be semi domesticated? Its obvious that they are useful.
 
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