Polarized Light Microscopy Digital Image Gallery

Cow Hair

In some parts of the world, such as Africa and Asia, domestic cattle appear very similar to the animals that inhabited those areas thousands of years ago. However, in Europe and the Americas, a number of relatively new breeds have been developed through controlled breeding efforts. Most of the breeds have derived from the species Bos taurus and Bos indicus, but vary significantly from the original strains since they have been altered to improve strength, milk production, or quality of meat, depending on the intended use of the animal. Indeed, selective breeding efforts began even before the field of genetics was developed. Typically credited with commencing these efforts is Robert Bakewell, an English farmer who introduced philosophies such as “like begets like” and “breed the best to the best” in the eighteenth century.


© 1995-2022 by Michael W. Davidson and The Florida State University. All Rights Reserved. No images, graphics, software, scripts, or applets may be reproduced or used in any manner without permission from the copyright holders. Use of this website means you agree to all of the Legal Terms and Conditions set forth by the owners.
This website is maintained by our
Graphics & Web Programming Team
in collaboration with Optical Microscopy at the
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.
Last modification: Thursday, Nov 20, 2003 at 03:51 PM
Access Count Since November 20, 2003: 7546
Microscopes provided by:
Visit the Nikon website. Visit the Olympus Microscopy Resource Center website.