The Rendena (aka Bruna di Val di Rendena in Italian) can be traced back to the brachyceros type cattle of pre-Roman times and was once a triple purpose animal.

During the mid-1800's, the Swiss Brown was used to improve the Rendena and the breed is now used for dairy and beef.

Brachyceros type cattle are described as:

• small
• shorthorned
• having a long skull with a deep forehead
• having a red, brown or black coat

'Brachy' from the Greek meaning 'short' and 'cerous', also Greek, for 'horns' - makes 'brachyceros' a word essentially meaning 'short horns'.

Archeological remains of brachyceros type cattle date from the 6th millennium B.C. and were discovered during the 19th century. At the time, they were thought to be a different, distinct type of aurochs. Because of this, the remains were originally classified as Bos brachyceros (and, later, Bos longifrons, as in 'long forehead').

However, both Latin classifications (Bos brachyceros and Bos longifrons) were dropped when the distinctive long skull formation was found not to be a second type of aurochs - but to have evolved through domestication. 'Brachyceros' then became a word defining a particular cattle 'type' (i.e. having essential characteristics belonging to a group).

See the other breeds of:
Italy at The Cow Wall®