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Bully Breeds
A bully breed is a type of molossoid or mastiff-like dog that derived from the now extinct Old English Bulldog. Recent molecular work has found support of these breeds being a monophyletic clade. They differ from mastiffs as they are generally smaller in size. Bully breeds were originally bred to catch bulls, some of which were later selected for bloodsport such as bear baiting, bull baiting, and dogfights. Eventually when the practice of animal fighting became illegal most bully breeds were bred out of the aggression, and instead became companion and working dogs for farmers. Some are quite popular such as the French Bulldog, while there is still a negative stigma associated with some of the other breeds like the American Pit Bull Terrier. The bully breeds can be divided into four groups based on ancestry. The first subcategory consists of bulldogs that were modified in various degrees from the original breed. Examples include the French Bulldog, English Bulldog, and the American Bulldog, different due to their physiology and temperament from their ancestor. The second are breeds that utilize the crossing of bulldogs (usually with the Old English Bulldog) with other molossoid breeds. These would include breeds like the Bullmastiff and the Boxer. The third category are the bull-type terrier breeds, which are descended from the extinct bull and terrier, a the crossbreed of the Old English Bulldog and the also extinct Old English Terrier. Bull terriers and pit bulls are the living descendants of that crossbreed. The fourth and final category are dogs that have bully in their ancestry, meaning any of the breeds from the previous three categories were crossbred with vastly different breeds, like the Dogo Argentino which also has Old English Bulldog, Bull Terrier, Spanish Mastiff, Irish Wolfhound and Great Dane in their ancestry.

Bulldogs
These bully breeds can be characterized by being simply modifications of the Old English Bulldog. Bulldogs are typically stocky, powerful, square built animals with large, strong, brachycephalic-type muzzles. It is believed bulldogs were developed during the 16th century Elizabethan era from the large mastiffs, as smaller, more compact dogs were better suited for baiting. Note some dogs like the Alano Español and Dogue de Bordeaux are often considered to be bulldogs, though these breeds came about during the Middle Ages before the development of the Old English Bulldog. While most kennel clubs recognize the Bulldog and French Bulldog, there are other breeds of bulldog derivatives that are being developed as recognizable breeds. These breeds differ from the Bulldog and French Bulldog in which they were bred to produce dogs that did not have the health issues seen in Bulldogs, as well as trying to recreate the appearance of the Old English Bulldog. Often bull-type mastiffs and/or terriers are bred into these dogs.
 * Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldog
 * American Bulldog
 * American Bully
 * Australian Bulldog
 * Banter Bulldogge
 * Bulldog
 * Campeiro Bulldog
 * Continental Bulldog
 * Dorset Olde Tyme Bulldogge
 * French Bulldog
 * †Old English Bulldog
 * Olde English Bulldogge
 * Serrano Bulldog
 * †Toy Bulldog
 * Valley Bulldog
 * Victorian Bulldog

Bull-type mastiffs
Bull-type or bully mastiffs are the result of crossing bulldogs with mastiff or molossoid breeds. They are often larger and can be more athletic than most bulldogs, and are more recent in comparison having been developed in the 19th century in Europe. Bull-type mastiffs were bred as guard and catch dogs.

Bull-type Terriers
Also treated as a subcategory of terriers as well, though they come from a different ancestry from the pastoral terriers such as the Airedale and fox terriers. As with the bull-type mastiffs. bull-type terriers are athletic and muscular in comparison to bulldogs. Like pastoral terriers, bull-type terriers have game and tenacious attitude. With the exception of the Boston Terrier, these dogs were bred mostly for fighting and catching bulls. All of these breeds are descended from the now extinct bull and terrier, which was a cross between the Old English Bulldog and the Old English Terrier.

Bully Mixes
These breeds have bully in their ancestry, non-bully breeds being cross with bully breeds. Usually they are not as closely related as the other bully breeds in the previous categories. Some were bred with intent, such as a strong hunting dog with friendly disposition like the Dogo Argentino, while others are recent designer breeds such as the pitsky, a cross breed of an American Pitbull Terrier and a Siberian Husky. Others are not breeds at all, but merely simply as types of dogs like the bull lurcher which is a cross between any of the sighthound breeds with a bully breed.
 * Catahoula Bulldog
 * †Cordoba Fighting Dog
 * Dogo Argentino
 * Gull Dong

Similar But Unrelated Breeds
These dogs, while similar in appearance and function to true bully breeds, were developed prior to or independently from the Old English Bulldog. Some people often loosely applied the term “bully” to a wide assemblage of molossoid breeds regardless of their relation to the Old English Bulldog.
 * Alano Español
 * †Bullenbeisser
 * Bully Kutta
 * Ca de Bou
 * †Dogo Cubano
 * Dogue de Bordeaux

Etymology
The genus Pantherophis was first penned by Fitzinger in 1843. The root words come from from the ancient Greek words “pánthēr” (πάνθηρ) meaning “panther’’ and “ophis”, meaning "small snake". It is not clear for the reason Fitzinger coined the genus Pantherophis for the North American ratsnakes.