Arkaelean Great Tauros

Cattle are a cornerstone of human civilization. From meat, leather, and milk, they provide the lifeblood for countless civilizations up to the modern day. However, like all domesticated animals, they started out as wild animals. The descendant of all modern cattle was the Aurochs, Bos primigenius. On Elysium the Arkaelean Taurus has that title

The Great Tauros, is one of the largest members of the bovini tribe, making it a truly massive and intimidating animal. A massive species of bovine, this animal has given rise to all modern breeds of domestic cattle that can be found on Arkael. Resembling oversized cattle, this species used to be one of the most widespread grazing animals on the planet thousands of years ago. They once dwelled in the majority of Arkael. But because of hunting and domestication, however, they have dwindled in the wild and are not often seen.

Description

Tauros are monstrous-looking cattle. They’re huge for starters; not even Gaur approaches them in size, and only the longhorn bison grows larger. Despite this, they are almost indistinguishable from its Pleistocene ancestors of earth, the only real difference being a slight increase in size. The bulls are enormous black beasts with sweeping lyre-shaped horns that can grow 8-11 feet that can punch holes through steel or upend a small cart should the animal become enraged.
The cows are around two-thirds the size of the bulls and have a reddish-brown coloration that makes them difficult to pick out in large groups. Both genders have narrow “eel stripes” of light gray fur running along their back while calves of either gender are brown, a light brown that darkens as the animal ages.
Official size for both sexes ranges 11 feet in length and 9 feet at the shoulder and 2 tons. For reference, The Average height for a Guar is around 6 feet 8 inches- 8 ft 3 inches with a length of 9 feet 2 inches-12 feet 10 inches and around 2200-3300 pounds. Arkael Winset grows almost 20ft at full length and stands nearly 10 (in females) and 15 (in males) at the withers.
In certain bulls, horn deformation or gening can result in the middle base part of an animal's horns being fused into an armored boss that has the possibility to grow so thick, it can shatter trees and deflect predators’ claws or even blunt damage. The curvature of bull horns is more strongly expressed than the horns of cows.
Despite the drastic change in size, proportions and body shape of the Tauros are strikingly different from many modern Arakelian cattle breeds. For example, the legs are considerably longer and more slender, resulting in a shoulder height that nearly equaled the trunk length. The skull, carrying the large horns, was substantially larger and more elongated than in most cattle breeds. As in other wild bovines, the body shape of the aurochs was athletic, and especially in bulls, shows a strongly expressed neck and shoulder musculature.

Diet

Moving in small herds of up to half a dozen animals, these mega-sized bovines tend to keep to themselves, living as low browsers along the edges of woodlands and pushing their way through the thick undergrowth of the jungles to feed upon bushes, low-growing leaves, and anything else that they can find. They are also predominantly grazers of grass and low-lying plant growth. They seem to be fond of maple leaves and will knock down small trees to get at them. During the winter they will resort to feeding on twigs, leaf litter, and acorns. They also tend too frequent bogs in search of reeds and fresh understory growth, which may bring them into competition with moose and other large herbivores. However, Large herds tend to dominate any landscape they enter, often forcing away animals as they bulldoze through the available forage. Smaller herbivores like deer are often left unbothered by them and may even follow them as they leave a messy trail of undergrowth in their wake.

Breeding

Tauros herds are gender-segregated for most of the year, the sexes only coming together during the late autumn breeding season. During this time the bulls become increasingly hostile and savagely fight for access to females, sometimes maiming or killing each other in the process. Both genders start bulk-loading on fatty foods near the start of the mating season, each group building up fat reserves in order to survive the harsh winter ahead. Calves are born in the following spring and stay with their mothers for the next three or four years.

Predation

According to descriptions and accounts, the Tauros is swift and can be very aggressive. Despite their size and formidable horns, they are commonly preyed upon by the many large carnivores that call Arakael home, while calves are vulnerable to all sized carnivores year-round. While healthy adults probably did not have to fear predators as much.

Interactions with Humans

Despite their size and strength, these massive cattle aren’t always safe. While the animals are incredibly tough, able to shrug off the teeth and claws of most smaller carnivores, put a fight with slightly larger ones and even withstand small primative firearms like the Winset, there are still predators capable of taking them down, while the young are the most vulnerable to predation.
Amongst Human and Mer, Taurous are frequently used as a symbol of size, strength, stubbornness, and stupidity. However, Humans and Mer have also become the cause as too why Wild Tauros have dwindled in their native habitat and are not often seen, but their descendants have thrived amongst humans.
In the wild, the much larger relative lives in near Mythology. Great Tauros are often part of hunting scenes in reliefs in a tomb, especially of those in high standing society. In fact, because of their rarity, in many places should one be discovered and the decision is made up to hunt it it is only permitted to hunt as wild game only to nobles and royal households.
Wild bulls are popular targets of trophy hunters, notorious for their furious temper, indomitable strength, and deadly horns. As males during breeding season are way, way, way, WAY too aggressive for anything to be around them for any length of time in 10 meters distance, this often makes them a thrilling spectical and wild hunt for Big Game Hunter's.

Trivia

Special Info

• While these cattle are more popularly shown in art as their normal "base" coloration's; the red for the female and the deep black for the bull's, this is not the only color they can present as.
  Domesticated Cattle are said to have many great traits, and color was one of the most noticeable and enjoyable, and as a result their descendant's are not that far off.
  Much like their descendant's, Great Tauros can come in a variety of color's.
  This is because all cattle basically posses one of three basic colors: black, red or white. The two genes each animal has for color can result in six possible genetic combinations. The gene for black is dominant to the gene for red, therefore cattle with one gene for black and one gene for red (heterozygous) will be black. There is an incomplete dominance between the gene for black and the gene for white, resulting in cattle with one gene for black and one gene for white being a black-roan color. There is also an incomplete dominance between the gene for red and the gene for white, resulting in cattle with one gene for red and one gene for white being a red-roan color. The gene for white is recessive, resulting in only cattle with two white genes (homozygous) being a true white color.
  Another pair of genes determines if the color is diluted or not diluted. The gene for dilution is dominant to the gene for non-dilution. Cattle that have one gene for dilution and one gene for non-dilution or two genes for dilution will have a diluted color. Cattle with two genes for non-dilution will not have a diluted color. The dilution gene causes black to be diluted to gray and red to be diluted to yellow. Diluted white will still be white.
  As a result, Cows and bulls are certainly unique when it comes to their color as their shading and combination of colors means that no two are exactly alike! Colors, as a result, can often include different shades from light to dark and everything in between, making it common too see brown, black, red, white, yellow and orange. There are also some which are colored Lavender or Mulberry!

Three of the most appealing ‘mixed’ colors to hunter's often include:
Brindle:
This is a striped color. Usually red or brown with black stripes. Various shades of red can also be produced, ranging from very light to very dark.
Dun/Yellow:
Cows and bulls can range from grey/gold, through tan, onto all shades of yellow.
Grulla:
This is the Spanish word for a grey crane. This bird is colored slate-grey and much like the bird, people observing Tauros will often see a range of colors that can range from a pale, smoky silver to a dark mouse color.
Fleabit:
A far more appealing color than it sounds, This color is mostly white with underlying dark specks on the skin.
However, color is not destined from birth and can change with age. For example, a light red calf may become brindle after it sheds its baby hair (first coat.) Some red calves may also turn a dark brown or have dark prints after shedding. Other's can be almost completely white when born and become speckled as they shed and age.

• This animal is sometimes referred as the "Widow Maker" or the "Black Death". Because when they were more populated in their local habitats, hunters would often attempt to dispatch individuals during late autumn. Which unfortunately is when their numbers were higher due to the animals being less spread out due to Breeding Season

• A Tauros, is often one of the animals hunted during many animals 3 rites challenge; a common term given to the mating habits of large carnivores whose main courtship ritual's include 3 "challenges". These often include Feats of Strength, the Ability to Provide, the Ability to Impress, which many can do in a single swing, by bringing females the carcass of large deadly prey such as Winsets, Tauros, and other large carnivores. Tauros tend to be a favorite amongst Lasiosauropteryx courtship rituals

Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Bovinae
Genus: Bos
Species: Bo
Behavior Aggressive and resilient
Habitat: Swamp or swamp like forests. Some of these niches would have been river valleys, river deltas and bogs, grasslands, floodplains, and light woodlands
Senses: Very good hearing and vision
Social: Large mixed-gender herds, smaller family units and some younger bulls will live in smaller bachelor gangs
Active: During late morning until afternoon evening
Class: Megafauna