Yak – Bos grunniens

Bos grunniensLinnaeus, 1766

Accepted name, Mammal Species of the World 2005

Includes mutus; but see Corbet (1978c:206). Formerly placed in Poephagus. Reviewed by Olsen (1990). Gentry et al. (1996) proposed that majority usage be confirmed by adoption of Bos mutus as the name for the wild taxon of yak, though it has not been demonstrated that most authors have termed the wild yak B. mutus rather than B. grunniens (or B. g. mutus). Gentry et al. (1996) asked the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature to use its plenary powers to rule that the name for this wild species is not invalid by virtue of being antedated by the name based on the domestic form. A ruling has now been made in their favour (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, 2003a). It may still be valid for those who consider B. grunniens and B. mutus to be conspecific to employ the senior name for the name of the species (see Bock, 1997); here mutus is provisionally treated as a subspecies of grun... [truncated]

• Wilson, D and Reeder, D. (eds.) 2005. Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. 3rd ed. -- 2142 pp. Johns Hopkins University Press.