The exact time and place this happened is hidden in the mists of antiquity, but it is thought they were probably first domesticated in Europe and Asia about 8500 years ago. Domesticated cattle are in the family Bovidae which includes ruminates with paired, hollow, unbranched horns that do not shed and an even number of toes. They belong to the genus Bos and the subgenera Taurine which includes the two species tarus and indicus . All breeds of British and European cattle like Angus, Hereford, Charolais and Simmental belong to the tarus species. The humped cattle of the tropical countries like Brahman and Africander belong to the indicus species.
Many contemporary breeds are the result of crossing two or more of the older breeds.
Most of the new breeds originating in the United States were developed in the Southern states where the standard breeds lacked resistance to heat and insects and did not thrive on the native grasses. Other Bovidae that are so closely related to true cattle that they can interbreed include the bison, buffalo, and yak. Purebred cattle breeds have been selectively bred over a long period of time to possess a distinctive identity in color, size, conformation, and function and have the prepotency to pass these traits to their progeny. The 10 states in the US with the largest cattle populations are Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana, Kansas, Iowa, Kentucky, and Florida. Click on the breed you would like to know more about in the Index on the left.