The aurochs was the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle (Bos taurus) and zebu (Bos indicus).

During glacial periods, aurochs retreated to refugia: areas in southern Europe where they could survive the colder climatic conditions. These included the Iberian, Italian and Balkan peninsulas. The species survived the extinctions at the end of the Pleistocene, and in the Holocene still ranged over vast areas, from western Europe and North Africa to East Asia. Its numbers gradually declined because of hunting, the loss and fragmentation of its habitat as farming and herding spread, and interbreeding with domestic cattle. The last known aurochs was a female living in the Jaktorów Forest in central Poland, which died in 1627. Her death is regarded as marking the extinction of the species.

Aurochs were a common subject of rock art and cave paintings. In ancient Egypt, a relief from the 12th century BC in the mortuary temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu shows the pharaoh hunting wild bulls identified as aurochs.

In Roman times, aurochs were among the wild animals brought in for venationes – staged hunts in which animals were pursued and killed in the arena. Such spectacles were held in the Colosseum in Rome and elsewhere, and many other species were also used, including lions, leopards, bears, elephants and rhinoceroses.

For centuries, the aurochs has been associated with strength, courage and extraordinary vitality, which explains its popularity in heraldry.