Bos taurus (domesticated cattle) is one of the world’s most important food animal species and also among the most biologically interesting due to its unique digestive, reproductive and immune system physiology. Furthermore, cattle represent an important clade for the annotation of human genes and evolutionary studies. As a major step toward understanding the biology and evolution of cattle and other mammals, the cattle genome (Hereford female) was sequenced to 7x coverage using a combined whole genome shotgun and BAC skim approach. The most recent assembly (Build 4.0) and assignment of sequence scaffolds to chromosomes were facilitated by a high density integrated physical map of ~400,000 BAC-end sequences and ~2,800 RH markers. The cattle genome contains a minimum of 22,000 genes that are being annotated by the scientific community. A community-based global analysis has been conducted that involves more than 100 different scientific groups from 14 countries. This includes analysis of repeat types, comparative genome organization and evolution, metabolic reconstruction and detailed analyses of genes and gene families related to the unique features of cattle biology (immunity, lactation, reproduction, digestion and metabolism). The cattle genome sequence thus provides an unprecedented resource for comparative studies of mammalian biology and for accelerating genetic improvement.