The first large-sized bovines grew to up to half a ton 4 million years ago in the European Early Pliocene, an early step toward our modern diversity of large-bodied buffalo and cattle, according to a study published June 3, 2026 in the open access journal PLOS One by Leonardo Sorbelli of the Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Germany, and colleagues.
Bovines are major components of many modern ecosystems as well as of human agriculture, particularly species of the tribe Bovini, which includes bison, buffalo, and cattle. But their evolutionary origins and their relationships with the most closely related groups have been unclear given a lack of well-preserved early fossils. The discovery of several near-complete skeletons at the 4.4-million-year-old site of Camp de Ninots in northeastern Iberia prompted Sorbelli and colleagues to re-examine these early European cattle relatives.
The researchers examined remains from at least 14 individuals in their study and identified them as Parabos tigneresi, part of a group of five buffalo-like species that inhabited Europe during the Early Pliocene. The largest of these specimens is estimated to have weighed nearly 500 kilograms, smaller than most living cattle species but larger than any other similar bovid of this time. These animals therefore represent an early stage of increasing body sizes in the bovine lineage, possibly as an adaptation to the climatic and environmental changes which characterized the European continent during the Pliocene. Their anatomy suggests that they predominantly inhabited a humid, vegetation-dense environment, matching the researchers' understanding of the water-rich environment that existed at the Camp de Ninots site.
This study identifies the Early Pliocene as the beginning of the age of large bovines, but the exact relationships of Parabos remain unclear. Based on comparisons with other species, the authors conclude that Parabos either represent the earliest members of the tribe Bovini or the latest members of a related lineage, Tragoportacini, which were ultimately replaced by true buffaloes, cattle and bison. Future study into the anatomy and ecology of Parabos will help resolve precisely where these animals fit into the story of bovine evolution.
The authors add: "The bovids from Camp dels Ninots are among the most exquisite fossils from the Pliocene of Europe. The exceptional preservation of these animals has allowed us to better understand their anatomy and, therefore, the ecology of the first large-sized bovids to populate the continent."
"Working on these fossils has been both challenging and satisfying. The exceptional preservation and abundance of the remains have provided us with a large amount of data, which is unique for such ancient geological periods and opened a new window on our world before the arrival of humans."
Press preview: https://plos.io/4a372hc
In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS One: https://plos.io/49hEWP8
Citation: Sorbelli L, Bibi F, Madurell-Malapeira J, Grandi F, Moreno-Ribas E, Oms O, et al. (2026) First of a line or last of a dynasty? Parabos tigneresi and the evolution of eurasian bovinae in the early pliocene. PLoS One 21(6): e0340256. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0340256
Author countries: Germany, Spain, Italy.
Funding: This study was materially supported by the Caldes de Malavella Town Hall ( https://caldesdemalavella.cat/index.php/en/town-hall-en-gb) which helped in the excavation of the fossil material analyzed in this work for the CN project. This study was also financially supported by the Catalan Government (Generalitat de Catalunya) through the Departament de Cultura ( https://cultura.gencat.cat/ca/inici) in the form of a project award received by LS, JMM, FG, EMR, OO, GC, and BGS (CLT009/22/000043). This study was further financially supported by the Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR) ( https://agaur.gencat.cat/ca/inici) in the form of a research group grant (2021 SGR 01238 (AGAUR)) received by FG, EMR, GC, and BGS. This study was also financially supported by the Universitat Rovira i Virgili ( https://www.urv.cat/en) in the form of a grant received by FG, EMR, GC, and BGS (2023-URV-01238). This study received additional financial support from the Ministry of Science and Innovation of the Spanish Government ( https://www.ciencia.gob.es/en/) in the form of a project grant received by EMR, GC, and BGS (PID2024-157622NB-I00). This study received additional financial support from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH) ( https://www.humboldt-foundation.de) in the form of a Humboldt Research Fellowship grant received by LS for postdoctoral research. The funders had no undeclared role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
