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NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Gaur

Bos gaurus C. H. Smith, 1827

Source-backed taxonomic record

Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Indian Gaur from anaimalai hills

Indian Gaur from anaimalai hills

PJeganathan · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image source

Provider-generated thumbnail requested at 320 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.

Open encyclopedia reference

The gaur (Bos gaurus; ), also known as the Indian bison, is a large bovine native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 mature individuals in 2016, with the majority of those existing in India.

It is the largest species among the wild cattle and the Bovidae.

The domesticated gayal or mithun originated partly from the wild gaur and is most common in the border regions of Northeast India (Assam, Manipur, Nagaland) and Bangladesh with Myanmar and Yunnan, China.

Wikipedia contributors, Gaur; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T01:19:51.289660+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Bos gaurus C. H. Smith, 1827
Name authority
C. H. Smith, 1827
Common name
Gaur
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Artiodactyla
Family
Bovidae
Genus
Bos
Extinction status
Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. megaclassTetrapoda
  8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
  9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
  10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
  11. orderArtiodactyla Owen, 1848
  12. familyBovidae Gray, 1821
  13. subfamilyBovinae Gray, 1821
  14. tribeBovini Gray, 1821
  15. genusBos Linnaeus, 1758
  16. speciesBos gaurus C. H. Smith, 1827

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Bos. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

SpeciesClassificationSource status
GayalBos frontalis A. B. Lambert, 1804BovidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Bali CattleBos domesticus Gans, 1915BovidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
American BisonBos bison Linnaeus, 1758BovidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
European WisentBos bonasus Linnaeus, 1758BovidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Domestic YakBos grunniens Linnaeus, 1766BovidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Wild YakBos mutus (Przewalski, 1883)BovidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
AurochBos primigenius Bojanus, 1827BovidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
KoupreyBos sauveli Urbain, 1937BovidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Taurine CattleBos taurus Linnaeus, 1758BovidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Caucasian WisentBos caucasicus Satunin in Turkin & Satunin, 1904BovidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extinct

Browse 166 records assigned to Bovidae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Southern Asia

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

  1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=183841 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:MLPV. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.