Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers designed to amplify bovine specific sequences of the arginine-vasopressin (ARVP), glycoprotein hormone alpha (CGA), cytochrome oxidase c subunit IV pseudogene (COXP), prochymosin (CYM), coagulation factor X (F10), inhibin beta A (INHBA), low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) and oxytocin (OXT) genes in hybrid cells were used in a search for single strand conformation polymorphisms. DNA from 75 animals comprising crossbred and 7 purebred breeds were analysed. ARVP, COXP, CYM, LDLR and OXT were found to be polymorphic while CGA, F10 and INHBA were not. Polymorphic regions were identified within 206 bp of exon 1 of ARVP, 582 bp of the pseudogene COXP, 253 bp of exon 9 of CYM, 519 bp of LDLR cDNA and 160 bp of the upstream regulatory region of OXT. This is the first report of bovine polymorphisms for these genes and an important step in our goal to incorporate type I comparative anchor loci into the bovine linkage map. Polymorphic loci were subsequently analysed in pedigreed full-sib families and shown to be inherited in a Mendelian fashion.