[Taxacom] Paraphyletic genus Bos (Fundamental Question for All You Taxacomers)

[Kenneth Kinman]

Hi Robin,
      I think the answer to the horse question is that horses follow the
basic mammal reaction of turning tail to a harsh, cold wind.  Primates
(incl. people) tend to do it, as do sheep, horses, and most other large
mammals that can't escape underground.  Maybe it can be lethal when they
are caught on the open plains during extreme blizzards, but such
extremes are apparently not common enough to change the behavior of most
mammals. 
      Those which display the oddball "innate behavior" of facing into
the wind seem mainly confined to just a handful of bovid species in the
genera Bos and Bison.  This behavior probably arose within the
paraphyletic mother genus Bos (and passed on to the daughter exgroup
genus Bison).  Just a preliminary look at the literature indicates to me
that it was perhaps in the ancestor of the yak of the Himalayas (a
perfect setting) in which it first arose, followed by Bos taurus
(ancestor of domestic cattle) and the genus Bison.
       Whether some domestic cattle breeds have subsequently lost this
behavior is unclear, but it wouldn't surprise me (as they have also lost
other characteristics of their wild ancestors).
           ------Ken Kinman