This article is about the domesticated water buffalo. For its endangered wild ancestor, see Wild water buffalo. For the wild African species, see African buffalo. For other uses, see Water buffalo (disambiguation).
Water buffalo
Water buffaloes in Laos
Conservation status
Domesticated
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Artiodactyla
Family:
Bovidae
Subfamily:
Bovinae
Genus:
Bubalus
Species:
B. bubalis
Binomial name
Bubalus bubalis
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Global distribution of the water buffalo in 2004
Synonyms
Bos bubalisLinnaeus, 1758
The water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), also called the domestic water buffalo or Asian water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also found in Italy, the Balkans, Australia, North America, South America and some African countries.[1]
Two extant types of water buffalo are recognized, based on morphological and behavioural criteria: the river buffalo of the Indian subcontinent and further west to the Balkans, Egypt and Italy and the swamp buffalo, found from Assam in the west through Southeast Asia to the Yangtze Valley of China in the east.[1][2]
The wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee) most probable represents the ancestor of the domestic water buffalo.[3] Results of a phylogenetic study indicate that the river-type water buffalo probably originated in western India and was domesticated about 6,300 years ago, whereas the swamp-type originated independently from Mainland Southeast Asia and was domesticated about 3,000 to 7,000 years ago.[4] The river buffalo dispersed west as far as Egypt, the Balkans, and Italy; while swamp buffalo dispersed to the rest of Southeast Asia and up to the Yangtze Valley.[4][5][6]
Water buffaloes were traded from the Indus Valley Civilisation to Mesopotamia, in modern Iraq, in 2500 BC by the Meluhhas.[7] The seal of a scribe employed by an Akkadian king shows the sacrifice of water buffaloes.[8]
Water buffaloes are especially suitable for tilling rice fields, and their milk is richer in fat and protein than that of dairy cattle. A large feral population became established in northern Australia in the late 19th century, and there are smaller feral herds in Papua New Guinea, Tunisia and northeastern Argentina.[1] Feral herds are also present in New Britain, New Ireland, Irian Jaya, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, Brazil, and Uruguay.[9]
^ abcCockrill, W. R. (1977). The water buffalo(PDF). Rome: Animal Production and Health Series No. 4. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2013.
^Cockrill, W. R., ed. (1974). The husbandry and health of the domestic buffalo. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
^Lau, C. H.; Drinkwater, R. D.; Yusoff, K.; Tan, S. G.; Hetzel, D. J. S.; Barker, J. S. F. (1998). "Genetic diversity of Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis): mitochondrial DNA D-loop and cytochrome b sequence variation" (PDF). Animal Genetics. 29 (4): 253–264. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2052.1998.00309.x. PMID 9745663.
^ abZhang, Y.; Colli, L. & Barker, J. S. F. (2020). "Asian water buffalo: domestication, history and genetics". Animal Genetics. 51 (2): 177–191. doi:10.1111/age.12911. PMID 31967365.
^Cite error: The named reference Liu2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference yang was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^McIntosh, J. (2008). The Ancient Indus Valley: New Perspectives. Santa Barabara: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781576079072.
^Khan, G., Church, S. K., Harding, R., Lunde, P., McIntosh, J., Stone, C. (2011). The First Civilizations in Contact: Mesopotamia and the Indus Archived 3 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine. The Civilizations in Contact Project, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge.
^Long, J. L. (2003). Introduced Mammals of the World: Their History, Distribution and Influence. Collingwood, Australia: Csiro Publishing. ISBN 9780643099166.
The waterbuffalo (Bubalus bubalis), also called the domestic waterbuffalo or Asian waterbuffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent...
The wild waterbuffalo (Bubalus arnee), also called Asian buffalo, Asiatic buffalo and wild buffalo, is a large bovine native to the Indian subcontinent...
including most "Old World" buffalo, such as waterbuffaloBuffalo (bison), a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffaloBuffalo, New York, a city in...
list of domestic waterbuffalo breeds and their uses. The domestic waterbuffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is descended from the wild waterbuffalo (Bubalus arnee)...
Buffalo meat, also known as buffalo beef, is the meat of the waterbuffalo, a large bovid, raised for its milk and meat in many countries including India...
The waterbuffalo incident was a controversy at the University of Pennsylvania in 1993, in which an Israeli-born Jewish student, Eden Jacobowitz, was...
Mediterranean buffalo or bufala mediterranea italiana is an Italian breed of waterbuffalo. It is of the River sub-type of waterbuffalo and is similar...
European WaterBuffalo, Bubalus murrensis) suggesting that waterbuffalo may have originated in Italy. A fourth theory is that waterbuffalo were brought...
living relative being the Asian waterbuffalo. Its unpredictable temperament may be part of the reason that the African buffalo has never been domesticated...
true buffalo. Species include the African buffalo, the anoas, and the wild waterbuffalo (including the domesticated variant waterbuffalo). Buffaloes can...
is a list of notable waterbuffalo cheeses. Waterbuffalo cheese is produced using the milk from the waterbuffalo. Some buffalo milk cheeses are produced...
The Murrah buffalo is a breed of waterbuffalo (Bubalus bubalis) mainly kept for milk production. It originates in Haryana and Punjab of India, where...
A buffalo wallow or bison wallow is a natural topographical depression in flat prairie land that holds rain water and runoff. Though thriving bison herds...
Documentation Centre states that the Jafarabadi buffalo is a hybrid of the African Cape buffalo and the Indian waterbuffalo, the former originally been brought to...
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football...
(Italian: [strattʃaˈtɛlla di ˈbuːfala]) is a cheese produced from Italian buffalo milk in the province of Foggia, located in the southern Italian region...
Buffalo Lithia Water (later Buffalo Mineral Springs Water) was a brand of lithia water bottled in Buffalo Lithia Springs, Virginia. It was advertised...
subspecies of the waterbuffalo, nor is it a subspecies of the slightly larger carabao, which is classified as a subspecies of the waterbuffalo. In contrast...
Americans ever met in the Pacific. This was also the first use of the LVT-2 WaterBuffalo in combat. 2nd Amphibian Tractor Battalion LVTs took part in the first...
consider domestic waterbuffalo populations as breeds. Bubalus species comprise the domestic waterbuffalo (B. bubalis), the wild waterbuffalo (B. arnee),...
Bubalus murrensis, also known as European waterbuffalo, is an extinct buffalo species native to Europe during the Pleistocene epoch. Only skulls have...
well, he is good at bowling and is a member of the "Loyal Order of WaterBuffaloes" Lodge No. 26, originally called the Loyal Order of Dinosaurs in Season...
bison; pl.: bison), also called the American buffalo or simply buffalo (not to be confused with true buffalo), is a species of bison native to North America...
medium to large-sized ungulates, including cattle, bison, African buffalo, waterbuffalos, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The evolutionary...
population of swamp-type waterbuffaloes (Bubalus bubalis kerebau) from the Philippines. They descended from domesticated swamp buffalo populations from Taiwan...
buffalo (Thai: กระบือ; (krabue) being the Thai word for "waterbuffalo") also known as the Siamese buffalo, Thai waterbuffalo or Thai swamp buffalo is...
Global Information
