Kting Voar
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Artiodactyla Family: Bovidae Subfamily: Bovinae Genus: Pseudonovibos Species: P. spiralis
Binomial name
Pseudonovibos spiralis Peter and Feiler, 1994

The Kting Voar, also known as the Khting Vor, Linh Duong, or Snake-eating Cow (Pseudonovibos spiralis) is a bovid mammal reputed to exist in Cambodia and Vietnam. The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. ... Image File history File links Status_iucn2. ... The Siberian Tiger, a subspecies of tiger. ... The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List and Red Data List), created in 1963, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species and can be found here. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... “Animalia” redirects here. ... Typical Classes Subphylum Urochordata - Tunicates Ascidiacea Thaliacea Larvacea Subphylum Cephalochordata - Lancelets Subphylum Myxini - Hagfishes Subphylum Vertebrata - Vertebrates Petromyzontida - Lampreys Placodermi (extinct) Chondrichthyes - Cartilaginous fishes Acanthodii (extinct) Actinopterygii - Ray-finned fishes Actinistia - Coelacanths Dipnoi - Lungfishes Amphibia - Amphibians Reptilia - Reptiles Aves - Birds Mammalia - Mammals Chordates (phylum Chordata) include the vertebrates, together with... Subclasses & Infraclasses Subclass †Allotheria* Subclass Prototheria Subclass Theria Infraclass †Trituberculata Infraclass Metatheria Infraclass Eutheria Mammals (class Mammalia) are warm-blooded, vertebrate animals characterized by the production of milk in female mammary glands and the presence of hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex region in the... Families Suidae Hippopotamidae Tayassuidae Camelidae Tragulidae Moschidae Cervidae Giraffidae Antilocapridae Bovidae The even-toed ungulates form the mammal order Artiodactyla. ... Subfamilies Bovinae Cephalophinae Hippotraginae Antilopinae Caprinae A bovid is any of almost 140 species of cloven-hoofed mammals belonging to the family Bovidae. ... Tribes Bovini Boselaphini Strepsicerotini The biological subfamily Bovinae (or bovines) includes a diverse group of about 24 species of medium-sized to large ungulates, including domestic cattle, Bison, the Water Buffalo, the Yak, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal system of naming species. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... Subfamilies Bovinae Cephalophinae Hippotraginae Antilopinae Caprinae A bovid is any of almost 140 species of cloven-hoofed mammals belonging to the family Bovidae. ...

Characteristics

The Kting Voar is normally described as a cow-like animal with peculiar twisting horns about 45 centimetres (20 inches) long. Anecdotal descriptions of the animal mention a spotted pelage. Folklore claims that it has a connection with snakes. Highland cow, a very old long-horned breed from Scotland. ... In mammals, pelage is the hair, fur, or wool that covers the animal. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Names

Kting Voar is the animal's Cambodian name. This was erroeneously translated in the West as 'jungle sheep', leading to a mistaken assumption that the animal was related to sheep and goats. In fact the name means 'liana-horned gaur' (a gaur is a species of wild Asian cow). Species See text. ... Species See Species and subspecies The goat is a mammal in the genus Capra, which consists of nine species: the Ibex, the West Caucasian Tur, the East Caucasian Tur, the Markhor, and the Wild Goat. ... A liana is woody climber. ... Binomial name Bos gaurus H. Smith, 1827 Range map The Gaur (IPA gauɹ) (Bos gaurus, previously Bibos gauris) is a large, dark-coated ox of South Asia and Southeast Asia. ...

Adding to the confusion, the Vietnamese name linh dong ('mountain goat') was once reported to refer to this animal. However, this is in fact a local name of the Mainland Serow. Binomial name Capricornis sumatraensis Linnaeus, 1758 The Mainland Serow, Capricornis sumatraensis is an endangered species of mammal. ...

Other Kampuchean names possibly include kting sipuoh ('snake-eating cattle') and khting pôs.

Controversy

For Western scientists, the first evidence supporting the Kting Voar's existence was a set of horns found by biologist Wolfgang Peter in a Ho Chi Minh City market (Peter & Feiler, 1994a). The horns were so unusual that Peter believed them to belong to a new species (Peter & Feiler, 1994b). For alternative meanings for The West in the United States, see the U.S. West and American West. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnamese: Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh  ) is the largest city in Vietnam and is located near the Mekong River delta. ... Look up Market in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. ...

No anatomical information, except for horns and frontlets, is available, so the phylogenetic status of the Kting Voar has been uncertain. Peter & Feiler (1994a) proposed the relationships of P. spiralis with Antilopini, but morphological analyses by Dioli (1995, 1997) and Timm & Brandt (2001) suggest affinities within Bovini, while Nadler (1997) believed P. spiralis to be related to Caprini. Genetic studies using alleged Kting Voar specimens have produced confusing results (Hammer et al., 1999; Kuznetsov et al., 2001a,b, 2002). However, these results from DNA have been demonstrated to be cases of DNA contamination (Hassanin & Douzery, 2000; Hassanin, 2002; Olson & Hassanin, 2003).

All supposed Kting Voar specimens that were subject to DNA analysis to date have turned out to be artificially shaped cattle horns (Hassanin et al., 2001; Thomas, Seveau, and Hassanin, 2001; Hassanin, 2002). The most likely explanation, given the DNA testing results and the unusual spotted fur (which is well-known in domesticated, but unknown in wild cattle), seem to be that modern specimens at least are cattle horns shaped by a complicated technique in order to serve as anti-snake talismans. The structure of part of a DNA double helix Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions for the development and function of living organisms. ... Binomial name Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 Cattle (often called cows in vernacular and contemporary usage, or kye as the Scots plural of cou) are domesticated ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. ... A dogs fur usually consists of longer, stiffer, guard hairs—which can be straight, wiry, or wavy, and of various lengths, hiding a soft, short-haired undercoat. ...

The vigorous controversy over the existence P. spiralis has been covered in Nature (Whitfield, 2002), New York Times (Mydans, 2002), and Science (Malakoff, 2001).

There is also an earlier report of British tiger-hunters in the first part the 20th century, who observed Kting Voar and shot two as tiger bait.

Skeptical opinion is that the Kting Voar is a mythical animal. Cow horns are often sold as imitation Kting Voar horns in Kampuche markets. However, some scientists, notably American mammalogist Dr. Robert Timm, consider it probable that the root of the folklore is a real, distinct species of wild bovid (Brandt et al., 2001; Timm & Brandt, 2001). If so, this animal would be highly endangered or more probably recently extinct, because rampant hunting and deforestation decimated populations of other big mammals in the region. In zoology, mammalogy is the study of mammals – a class of vertebrates with characteristics such as homeothermic metabolism, fur, four-chambered hearts, and complex nervous systems. ... Subfamilies Bovinae Cephalophinae Hippotraginae Antilopinae Caprinae A bovid is any of almost 140 species of cloven-hoofed mammals belonging to the family Bovidae. ... Deforestation is the conversion of forested areas to non-forest land use such as arable land, pasture, urban use, logged area or wasteland. ...

More recently, Feiler et. al. (2002) established that most of the horn sheaths of the Kting Voar, including the holotype were superficially embellished, but added that it remains to be seen whether these horns belong to cattle or a distinct species in its own right.

The existence of the Kting Voar is far more likely than that of other cryptids. IUCN Red List of threatened species lists it as endangered, stating "The existence and systematic position of Pseudonovibos spiralis is currently being debated. There are undoubtedly manufactured trophies ("fakes") in circulation, but the precautionary principle requires us to assume that the species did exist and may still exist." The World Conservation Union or International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ... The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List and Red Data List), created in 1963, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species. ... An endangered species is a species whose population is so small that it is in danger of becoming extinct. ...

Until further evidence is obtained, the Kting Voar's existence as a real species should remain questionable (Galbreath & Melville, 2003).

References

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• Antelope Specialist Group (1996). Pseudonovibos spiralis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is endangered

Brandt, J. H., Dioli, M., Hassanin, A., Melville, R. A., Olson, L. E., Seveau, A., and Timm, R. M., 2001. Debate on the authenticity of Pseudonovibos spiralis as a new species of wild bovid from Vietnam and Cambodia. Journal of Zoology 255:437-444. Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List and Red Data List), created in 1963, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species and can be found here. ... The World Conservation Union or International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ... The Journal of Zoology (not to be confused with a different journal called Zoology) is a scientific journal concerning zoology, the study of animals. ...

Dioli M., 1995. A clarification about the morphology of the horns of the female kouprey: a new unknown bovid species from Cambodia. Mammalia 59, 663–667.

Dioli, M., 1997. Notes on the morphology of the horns of a new artiodactyl mammal from Cambodia: Pseudonovibos spiralis. J. Zool. (Lond.) 241: 527–531.

Feiler, A., Ziegler, T., Ansorge, H. & Nadler, T. 2002. Pseudonovibos spiralis - Mythos oder Wirklichkeit? ZGAP Mitteilungen 18: 21-24.

Galbreath, G. J. and Melville, R. A., 2003. Pseudonovibos spiralis: epitaph. J. Zool. (Lond.) 259: 169-170.

Hammer, S.E., Suchentrunk, F., Tiedemann, R., Hartl, G.B., Feiler, A., 1999. Mitochondrial DNA sequence relationships of the newly described enigmatic Vietnamese bovid, Pseudonovibos spiralis. Naturwissenschaften 86, 279–280.

Hassanin, A., 2002. Ancient specimens and DNA contamination: a case study from the 12S rRNA gene sequence of the ‘‘linh duong’’ bovid (Pseudonovibos spiralis). Naturwissenschaften 89, 107–110.

Hassanin, A., Douzery, E., 2000. Is the newly described bovid, Pseudonovibos spiralis, a chamois (genus Rupicapra)? Naturwissenschaften 87, 122–124.

Hassanin, A., Seveau, A., Thomas, H., Bocherens, H., Billiou, D. and Nguyen, B.X. 2001. Evidence from DNA that the mysterious 'linh duong' (Pseudonovibos spiralis) is not a new bovid. Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences Série III Sciences de la Vie 324: 71-80.

Hoffmann R.S., 1986. A new locality record for the kouprey from Vietnam, and an archaeological record from China, Mammalia 50, 391–395.

Kuznetsov, G.V., Kulikov, E.E., Petrov, N.B., Ivanova, N.V., Lomov, A.A., Kholodova, M.V., Poltaraus, A.B., 2001a. The ‘‘linh duong’’ Pseudonovibos spiralis (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) is a new buffalo. Naturwissenschaften 88, 123–125.

Kuznetsov, G.V., Kulikov, E.E., Petrov, N.B., Ivanova, N.V., Lomov, A.A., Kholodova, M.V., Poltaraus, A.B., 2001b. Taxonomic status and phylogenetic relations of the new genus and species Pseudonovibos spiralis W.P. Peter, A. Feiler, 1994 (Artiodactyla, Bovidae). Zoologičeskij Žurnal 80 (11): 1395-1403.

Kuznetsov, G.V., Kulikov, E.E., Petrov, N.B., Ivanova, N.V., Lomov, A.A., Kholodova, M.V., Poltaraus, A.B., 2002. Mitochondrial 12S rDNA sequence relationships suggest that the enigmatic bovid ‘‘linh duong’’ Pseudonovibos spiralis is closely related to buffalo. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 23 (1), 91–94.

MacDonald, A. A. & Linxin N. Yang, 1997. Chinese sources suggest early knowledge of the "unknown" ungulate Pseudonovibos spiralis from Vietnam and Cambodia. Journal of Zoology 241: 523-526.

Malakoff, D. (Ed.), 2001. Horny dilemma (in ‘‘Random Samples’’). Science 291: 39.

Mydans, S., 2002. Cambodia's mystery, the horns that never were. New York Times (May 6).

Nadler, T., 1997. Was ist Pseudonovibos spiralis? Zool. Garten N.F. 67, 290–292.

Olson, L. E. and Hassanin A., 2003. Contamination and chimerism are perpetuating the legend of the snake-eating cow with twisted horns (Pseudonovibos spiralis): A case study of the pitfalls of ancient DNA. Mol. Phylogenetics. Evol. 27 (2):545-548.

Peter, W.P., Feiler, A., 1994a. Horns of an unknown bovid species from Vietnam (Mammalia: Ruminantia). Faun. Abh. Mus. Tierkd. Dresden 19, 247–253.

Peter, W.P., Feiler, A., 1994b. A new bovid species from Vietnam and Cambodia (Mammalia: Ruminantia). Zool. Abh. Mus. Tierkd. Dresden 48, 169–176.

Thomas, H., Seveau, A. and Hassanin, A. 2001. The enigmatic new Indochinese bovid, Pseudonovibos spiralis: an extraordinary forgery. Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences Série III Sciences de la Vie 324:81-86.

Timm, R.M. & Brandt, J.H., 2001. Pseudonovibos spiralis (Artiodactyla: Bovidae): new information on this enigmatic South-east Asian ox. J. Zool., Lond. 253: 157–166.

Whitfield, J., 2002. Locking horns. Nature 415: 956.

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - Pseudonovibos spiralis