Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Subclass: Cleria

Infraclass: Theria

Order: Artiodactyla

Suborder: Cetruminantia

Infraorder: Pecora

Family: Bovidae

Subfamily: Bovinae

Tribe: Bovini

Genus: Bos

Species: Bos primigenius

Subspecies: Bos primigenius taurus and Bos primigenius indicus

Collectively, cattle are classified as Bos primigenius, with sub-classifications or subspecies being Bos primigenius taurus for the Temperate or European-type cattle and Bos primigenius indicus for the Tropical or Asian/African-type humped cattle. In the past the Aurochs (a true wild descendant of the domesticated bovines of today), Temperate and Tropical cattle were classified as three separate species: Bos primigenius, Bos taurus and Bos indicus, respectively. As new evidence is revealed about the history of the domestication of cattle and what their ancestors really were as well as how genetically close Bos taurus and Bos inidicus cattle are linked together, it is more proper to define them collectively as Bos primigenius as the species, and Bos primigenius primigenius, Bos primigenius taurusand Bos primigenius indicus as the subspecies of the Aurochs, European-type and Asian/African-type cattle, respectively.