 The Pantaneiro derives from Spanish cattle brought to the Americas by the "conquistadores" at the time of the colonisation of the Río de la Plata basin, and has been raised there for more than three hundred years.From the eighteenth century it was influenced by breeds of Portuguese origin such as the Curraleiro and Franqueiro.DNA studies have shown that there has been contamination of the breed through the use of bulls of the zebuine cattle breeds introduced to the Pantanal region during the twentieth century; influence of zebuine cows was excluded, as the mitochondrial DNA was found to be entirely taurine.