ScienceDaily — DNA analysis shows that Indonesian zebu cattle have a unique origin with banteng (Bos javanicus) as part of their ancestry. Throughout the world, cattle inhabit a range of climatically diverse environments: common taurine cattle, for example, are kept in temperate zones, zebus in hot, dry climates and yaks at the high altitudes of Tibet. A new report shows that another bovine species, the banteng, also made a genetic contribution to the ancestry of Indonesian cattle.

The study, conducted by an international team of researchers, was led by Bambang Purwantara from the Bogor Agricultural University, Hans Lenstra and Ben Colenbrander from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, and Göran Andersson from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala.

Cattle from Bali were already known to be a domestic form of the banteng, a species which can remain very fertile in the tropical conditions it inhabits. On the sporadic occasions when a banteng mates with a zebu, the offspring are usually reproductively viable.

Sumber : Science Daily

Informasi lengkap dapat diakses di:

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090512202738.htm

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