Bubalus cebuensis

Cebu tamaraw
Temporal range: Pleistocene - Holocene
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Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Bovinae
Genus: Bubalus
Species: B. cebuensis
Binomial name
Bubalus cebuensis
Croft, Heaney, Flynn, and Bautista, 2006

The Cebu tamaraw (Bubalus cebuensis) is a fossil dwarf buffalo discovered in the Philippines, and first described in 2006.

Anatomy and morphology

The most distinctive feature of B. cebuensis was its small size. Large contemporary domestic water buffalo stand two metres (roughly six ft) at the shoulder and can weigh up to one tonne (around 2,000 lbs), B. cebuensis would have stood only 75 cm (about 2 ft 6 in) and weighed about 150 to 160 kg (around 300 lbs), smaller than another dwarf species B. mindorensis.[1][2]

The fossil specimen is likely Pleistocene or Holocene in age.[1]

Evolutionary history

The fossil was discovered in a horizontal tunnel in soft karst at approximately 50 m elevation in K-Hill near Balamban, Cebu Island, Philippines by mining engineer Michael Armas.[3] The fossil was donated to America's Field Museum where it stayed un-analysed for almost 50 years.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Croft, D.A. L. R. Heaney, J. J. Flynn, and A. P. Bautista. 2006. FOSSIL REMAINS OF A NEW, DIMINUTIVE BUBALUS (ARTIODACTYLA: BOVIDAE: BOVINI) FROM CEBU ISLAND, PHILIPPINES. Journal of Mammalology 87:1037–1051
  2. ↑ "New Dwarf Buffalo Discovered By Chance In The Philippines". TerraDaily. October 18, 2006.
  3. ↑ New dwarf buffalo discovered by chance in the Philippines, EurekAlert, October 17, 2006


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