Zebu

The zebu, Bos indicus, also known as indicine cattle and humped cattle, is a species or subspecies of domestic cattle originating in South Asia. It differs from taurine cattle in the fatty hump on its shoulders, its large dewlap and its sometimes drooping ears, and it is well adapted to high temperatures and raised throughout the tropics. It is used as a draught and riding animal, as dairy and beef cattle, and for byproducts such as hides and dung for fuel and manure, and in some regions it has significant religious meaning. Zebu cattle are derived from the Indian aurochs and were domesticated between 6,000 and 7,000 years before the present at Mehrgarh in northwestern Pakistan. Its status as a distinct species has been revised several times by taxonomists.