humpless

Humpless is an adjective used in biology and zoology to describe an organism that lacks a dorsal hump or other pronounced protuberance that some related species possess. The word is formed from the noun hump, with the suffix -less indicating absence.

In livestock and veterinary contexts, humpless is commonly applied to distinguish taurine cattle (Bos taurus) from humped cattle such as zebu (Bos indicus). Taurine cattle are generally described as humpless because they do not develop the prominent shoulder humps seen in zebu. This distinction has historical relevance in discussions of cattle domestication, geographic distribution, and phenotypic variation, though modern genetic analyses view the trait as influenced by multiple genes and environmental factors rather than a single binary category.

Outside cattle, humpless may be used to describe other animals lacking humps. However, it is less common as a formal taxonomic term and more typically serves as a descriptive label in comparative anatomy, paleontology, or agricultural literature.

See also: hump, camel, zebu, Taurine cattle, Bos taurus, Bos indicus.