the many faces of butter

For many years, I was content to know that butter came from cows. Then, my world turned upside down when I discovered apple butter. Hmm .. now butter comes from cows or apples.

Today, I decided to investigate where shea butter comes from (answer: an African tree). Now, I know butter comes from cows, apples and trees.

dictionary.com defines butter as
1. A soft yellowish or whitish emulsion of butterfat, water, air, and sometimes salt, churned from milk or cream and processed for use in cooking and as a food;
2. Any of various substances similar to butter, especially a spread made from fruit, nuts, or other foods: apple butter

Why doesn't it acknowledge the role of the lowly bovine? Or have I been limiting myself to "cow butter" when there are alternatives such as goat butter or water buffalo butter (ghee)? (answer: yes)

Does the milk/cheese/butter from different species of cow taste different? What about wild goat butter? Are the possibilities endless? And what about all those ancient butter sculpters?

Those who are really fascinated by this stuff will be transfixed by Goat Milk vs. Cow Milk (from the June 1992 edition of The Goat Handbook, suitable for discriminating coffee tables everywhere). All this reminds me : isn't it cabrito season soon?