The fact that few people know behind the giant cow is causing storms to netizens

This cow turned out to be not too special, because it belonged to a giant breed.

Do you remember this cow? Its name is Knickers, which has occupied the spotlight of many forums around the world. And the reason why you look at the picture will probably guess.

For those who have yet to know, Knickers is 1.93m tall, weighs 1.4 tons . With such terrible form, it looks striking, athletic like the Rock (Dwayne Johnson) of the cow world.

In the full picture are mature cows but they look no different from kids playing with "adult" Knickers . The owner of Knickers, an Australian farmer named Geoff Pearson, shared that he regarded it as " cow's " coach - an animal that is qualified to be responsible for its community. Geoff is witty to share "what the cow is, no one has such a big child".

However, from a scientific perspective, we need to look at this story a little differently.

Knickers cow is 1.93m high, weighs 1.4 tons.

"We need to approach this story from a different angle," said Aniek Bouwman, an expert on livestock and genetic modification at Wagenigen University (Netherlands).

Bouwman said, first it is necessary to understand that Knickers is a bull, but bulls are usually bigger. However, the real reason lies in its breed - Holstein cows - is a giant breed .

Male Holstein cows usually have a height of over 1.83m, while other breeds - like those standing around Knickers - are only about 1.4m tall. In other words, Knickers is a big cow, but only if compared to ordinary cows. As for its species, any child can be considered The Rock.

Age is also an important factor. Knickers is now 7 years old - quite high compared to normal cows. The cows that they take pictures with are only about 1 year old.

"Cows at the farm are often operated on the third year" - quoted Craig Hickman, rancher in Ashburton, New Zealand. "So in the 7th year, it has a huge amount of fat meat."

In fact, Knickers can live that long because of luck. After 2 years, it became too big to fit into the industrial cow slaughter system - Geoff Pearson said.

Still a special cow

Ignoring the age and race story, Knickers still has some characteristics that make it different. Because according to Pearson, Knickers' parents are not that big. At birth, it's like a normal cow.

"From a calf, it turned into a giant cow," Pearson said.

According to Bouwman, the story lies in the " giantization " phenomenon - when an individual becomes larger than the same species. In the study of Bouwman in Nature in early 2018, the gene regulates that this phenomenon is actually scattered in cattle, livestock and human communities. Just wait for the right conditions, it will break out and we have a giant like Knickers.

Knickers is a bull, of the Holstein breed, this is a giant breed.

According to Bouwman, we need DNA tests to confirm Knickers' case. In addition, it is also possible that the pituitary, which is responsible for controlling growth, has been disturbed. This makes it grow stronger than usual.

When asked about Knickers, Richard Wassersug, a professor of animal husbandry from the University of British Columbia (Canada), did not want to comment much. But according to him, it will not grow forever.

"There is a limit to how big animals can be. If they exceed that limit, their bodies will be compromised," Wassersug said.

Fortunately, Knickers has yet to show any signs of health damage. But according to Pearson, sooner or later the huge mass of meat it carries will affect.

But not the most special

In fact, there was also another Holstein cow of the same size as Knickers. It is called Danniel, living in California. Every day, he eats up to 45kg of hay, 6.8kg of grain, and drinks nearly 400 liters of water. He lived for 8 years, and died in 2018.

Knickers is also not the tallest cow. That record belongs to Bellino, a cow resembling Italian Chianina. It is over 2m tall.