Carne Maronesa

The Maronesa is a traditional Portuguese breed of mountain cattle. Its name derives from that of the Serra do Marão, which lies in the Trás-os-Montes and Douro Litoral regions in the northern part of the country. Its primary use is for draught power. The origin of the Maronesa is not clear and remains controversial.: 112  Historical evidence suggests that it derives from cross-breeding of the Barrosã and Mirandesa breeds,: 240  and it was considered a cross-breed until about 1835, when it was acknowledged to be a separate breed.: 284  Support for descent from Barrosã and Mirandesa comes from a 1993 study regarding the frequency of the 1/29 Robertsonian translocation in the three breeds, where the value for the Maronesa is intermediate between that for the Barrosã (65%) and that for the Mirandesa (below 2%).: 240 : 236  A study published in 1998 found it to have a substantial genetic distance from the Barrosã, the Mirandesa, and all other breeds of northern Portugal and Galicia,: 70  micro-satellite analysis of Portuguese breeds in 2004 grouped it most closely with the Barrosã.: 111  The Maronesa was formerly numerous in the provinces of Douro, Minho and Trás-os-Montes, and particularly in the Serra do Alvão, the Serra da Padrela [pt], and the Serra do Marão.: 284  There is no census data from before 1940, when just over 25 000 head were counted; in 1955 there were 32 252 animals registered, and in 1972 there were 29 276. Numbers later dropped.: 284  A breeders' association was formed by fourteen breeders in 1988,: 240  and a breed register was started in the same year. By 1996 the number of farmers rearing the breed had risen to almost 1500.: 240  In 2008, the breed was officially approved by the Direção Geral de Veterinária, and the breed register became a genealogical herd-book.

Source: Wikipedia