or auroch
Extinct wild ox ( Bos primigenius ) of Europe, the species from which cattle are probably descended.
The aurochs survived in central Poland until 1627. It was black, stood 6 ft (1.8 m) high at the shoulder, and had spreading, forward-curving horns. Some German breeders claim to have re-created this race since 1945, but their animals are smaller and probably lack the aurochs's genetic constitution. The name has sometimes been wrongly applied to the European bison .