By Mindy Weisberger, Senior
Writer | June 15, 2018 03:12pm ET
Nobody would ever say to this
cow, "Why the long face?"
The snub-nosed cow, known as a
Niata, is a now-extinct breed of domesticated cattle once found in South
America. Its shortened, broad profile, unique in cows, was more reminiscent of
a bulldog than a bovine; it had a dramatically flattened face and a significant
underbite, much like contemporary dog breeds such as pugs, bulldogs and boxers.
Naturalist Charles Darwin wrote about Niata cows in 1845, after seeing them for
the first time in Argentina. Though their bizarre head shape generated much
discussion in the decades that followed, their biology was not well understood.
Recently, scientists conducted
the first analysis of the Niata cow's anatomy and genetics, to find out whether
the animal's shortened jaw and skull affected its ability to eat and breathe,
possibly contributing to the breed's extinction. [Heritage
Livestock Are Vanishing Across the United States (Photos)]
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