• Key Information

  • Aurochs

  • Species
    Bos primigenius
  • Diet
    Herbivore
  • Height (to shoulder)
    4 ft 5 inch to 5 ft 11 inches
  • Weight
    1,540 to 3,310 lb
  • Classification
    Mammalia > Artiodactyla > Bovinae
  • Life Span
    About 20 years
  • Conservation Status
    Extinct
  • Habitat
    Forests, woodlands and grasslands
  • Learning Point
  • The Aurochs was an ancient form of cattle that is now extinct, and may have been the wild ancestor of the domestic cattle we have today and may have been one of the most massive herbivores in the places it existed when it was alive.
  • Project
  • Draw an Aurochs grazing in Roman times.
  • Location
  • Places
    Europe, North Africa and Asia
  • Fun Facts
  • Both "aur" and "ur" are Germanic or Celtic words meaning "wild ox".
  • They were shaped with stronger front legs and the front part of the torso compared to the back, different to modern cattle which are more equally balanced.
  • They were used as fighting or battle animals by the Romans.
  • The reasons for their extinction include hunting and loss of habitat, the least known auroch dying in 1627.
 
Early Pleistocene
 
1000000 BCE
 
2026 CE
 
 774000 BCE
 126000 BCE
 1 CE