Wild yak
| Wild yak Temporal range: 5–0 Ma Early Pliocene – Recent |
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_BHL9370000.jpg) |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Bovidae |
| Subfamily: | Bovinae |
| Genus: | Bos |
| Species: | B. mutus |
| Binomial name | |
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Bos mutus Przewalski, 1883 |
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The wild yak (Bos mutus) is a large wild bovid native to the Himalayas in Central Asia. It is the ancestor of the domestic yak, Bos grunniens.
The ancestor of the wild and domestic yak is thought to have diverged from Bos primigenius at a point between one and five million years ago. The wild yak is now normally treated as a separate species from the domestic yak (Bos grunniens).
Wild yaks are among the largest bovids and are second only to the gaur in shoulder height. They are also the largest native animal in their range. Wild yak adults stand about 1.6 to 2.2 m (5.2 to 7.2 ft) tall at the shoulder and weigh 305–1,000 kg (672–2,205 lb). The head and body length is 2.5 to 3.3 m (8.2 to 11 ft), not counting the tail of 60 to 100 cm (24 to 39 in). The females are about one-third the weight and are about 30% smaller in their linear dimensions when compared to bull wild yaks. Domesticated yaks are somewhat smaller.
They are heavily built animals with a bulky frame, sturdy legs, and rounded cloven hooves. The udder in females and the scrotum in males are small and hairy, as protection against the cold. Females have four teats. The fur is extremely dense, long and hangs down lower than the belly. Wild yaks are generally dark, blackish to brown, in colouration. Both sexes have long shaggy hair with a dense woolly undercoat over the chest, flanks, and thighs to insulate them from the cold. Especially in males, this may form a long "skirt" that can reach the ground. The tail is long and horselike rather than tufted like the tails of cattle or bison. The coat is typically black or dark brown over most of the body, with a greyish muzzle, although some wild golden-brown individuals have been reported. Wild yaks with gold coloured hair, known as Wild Golden Yak (Chinese: ; pinyin: Jīnsīyěmáoniú) is considered an endangered subspecies by China, with an estimated population of 170 left in the wild.
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Wikipedia