A nearly complete bovine skeleton discovered at the early Pliocene site of Camp dels Ninotz in northeastern Spain has unveiled that the ancestors of modern buffaloes and cows had reached impressive sizes long before humans inhabited the continent.
Paleo-artistic reconstruction of the early Pliocene environment around Lake Camp Dels Ninotz. Image credit: Mauricio Anton.
“Cows play a vital role in many contemporary ecosystems and human agriculture, particularly species within the Bovini tribe, such as bison, buffalo, and cattle,” stated Dr. Leonardo Solberg from the Leibniz Institute for Evolutionary and Biodiversity Sciences and his colleagues.
“However, due to the scarcity of well-preserved early fossils, their evolutionary origins and relationships with close relatives remain largely unknown.”
The study involved the examination of at least 14 human remains excavated from the Camp dels Ninotz site in Spain.
Researchers identified the specimen as Parabos tineresi, one of five buffalo-like species that thrived in Europe during the early Pliocene.
The largest of these animals is estimated to have weighed nearly 500 kg, making it smaller than most existing bovine species but larger than other similar bovid species of the period.
This indicates an early stage of body size increase in the bovine lineage, possibly as an adaptation to the changing climate and environment that characterized continental Europe during the Pliocene.
Their anatomy suggests a preference for moist, plant-rich environments, aligning with researchers’ understanding of the water-abundant ecosystem at the Camp dels Ninotz site.
Researchers argue that the early Pliocene marked the dawn of large cattle, but the exact evolutionary connection between cattle and cows remains unclear. The status of Parabos also remains ambiguous.
Comparative studies suggest that Parabos could either represent early members of the Bovini tribe or more modern relatives of the related Tragoportacini lineage, which was eventually supplanted by true water buffalo, cattle, and bison.
Future research focusing on the anatomy and ecology of Parabos will clarify their place in the bovine evolutionary narrative.
“The Camp dels Ninotz bovid is one of the most exquisite fossils from the European Pliocene,” remarked the researchers.
“The exceptional preservation of these specimens allows for a deeper understanding of their anatomy and, consequently, the ecology of the continent’s earliest large bovids.”
“Studying these fossils presented both challenges and rewards.”
“The extraordinary preservation and richness of the findings have provided us an unprecedented wealth of data for this ancient geological period, offering a new perspective on the world before humans.”
The study has been published in the journal PLoS ONE.
_____
L. Solberg et al. 2026. First or last dynasty? Parabos tineresi and the evolution of Eurasian bovidae during the early Pliocene. PLoS ONE 21 (6): e0340256; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0340256
Source: www.sci.news
