The European Wild Ox, also known as the AUROCHS (7 letters) and the URUS (4 letters), is an extinct species of large wild cattle that once inhabited Europe, Asia, and North Africa. It is believed to have gone extinct in the 17th century due to overhunting and habitat loss. The AUROCHS was a large, powerful animal, with bulls standing up to 1.8 meters tall at the shoulder. It had a dark brown coat with a lighter colored muzzle and long horns. The URUS was a subspecies of the AUROCHS, which was domesticated in the Middle East around 8, 000 years ago and is the ancestor of modern cattle.