All about Gaur (Bos gaurus)

[GuateGojira]

Body size of the gaur:

The magnificent gaur is famous for been the largest bovid in modern days, although some evidence suggest that the Indian water buffalo could be heavier.

Many times the size of these great mammals has been discussed, but the use of unreliable evidence and internet rumors made impossible to get to an accurate conclusion. I managed to summarize the data of body measurements and weights available in literature from gaurs hunted in the wild, and although this don't exhaust all the data available (I guess there are some other measurements over there), it gives a good idea about the size of this magnificent animal.

First, here is the table with the raw data, all measurements between pegs:

*This image is copyright of its original author

Second, here is the comparative image of an average male gaur, together with the summarize of the measurements from the table:

*This image is copyright of its original author

Take in count that the head-body length came from the nose to the root of tail, so the animal itself is slightly longer, about 290 cm at the tip of the hip. There is an exceptional weight of 2,700 lb "clean" (1,225 kg) from Cochin, China, but the figure seems unreliable are at least doubtful. I label it as "Indian" because there is a record from a Sri Lanka gaur that I posses and the animal seems very small, although is described as fully grow.

There are common references in literature and the web (including Wikipedia) of lengths of 330 cm in head-body, but this constitutes exaggerations and came from the book "Walker Mammals of the World"; check the image:

*This image is copyright of its original author

Now, we can see that those measurements are incorrect, based in the real sizes recorded from specimens in the wild.

Enjoy the data. [img]images/smilies/smile.gif[/img]
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