» Mon Nov 01, 2010 8:32 am
Aurochs...basically a gigantic, pissed off cow. They are extinct now but ancient Europeans used to hunt them as a test of strength and bravery. Had huge, "lyre shaped" horns. Usually black with a tan stripe on the spine (in males.) Julius Caesar wrote about them, said they were the size of an elephant. He was probably comparing them to the now extinct but smaller than average North African elephant, and exaggerating, but the fact that he though to compare them at all means they were much larger than average cows. Nazi scientists tried to "breed them back" and came up with "Heck cattle," which look similar but are genetically and phenotypically different.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Heck_cattle_male.jpg
Looks like they also get shaggy in the winter http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4013/4411413319_f6f9c05c46.jpg
And an artist rendering of one fighting wolves, just in case http://www.boingboing.net/200904221257.jpg