Goat antelope
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A goat antelope is any of the species of mostly medium-sized bovids that make up the subfamily Caprinae or the single species in subfamily Pantholopinae. The domestic sheep and domestic goat are both part of the goat antelope group, and the group itself is part of the family Bovidae, which in other branches contains the antelopes and domestic cattle.
The goat antelope or caprid group is known from as early as the Miocene, but did not reach its greatest diversity until the recent ice ages, when many of its members became specialised for marginal, often extreme, environments: mountains, deserts, and the sub-Arctic region. In consequence, although most goat antelopes are gregarious and have a fairly stocky build, they diverge in many other ways. The Musk Ox, Ovibos moschatus, became adapted to the extreme cold of the tundra; the Rocky Mountain Goat, Oreamnos americanus, of North America specialised in very rugged terrain; the Urial, Ovis orientalis, occupied a largely infertile area from Kashmir to Iran, including much desert country. The European Mouflon, Ovis musimon, is thought to be the ancestor of the modern Domestic Sheep, Ovis aries.
Many of the ice age species are now extinct, probably largely because of human interaction. Of the survivors:
- five are classified as endangered,
- eight as vulnerable,
- seven as of concern and needing conservation measures but at lower risk, and
- seven species are secure.
In lifestyle, the caprids fall into two broad classes, resource defenders which are territorial and defend a small, food-rich area against other members of the same species, and grazers, which gather together into herds and roam freely over a larger, usually relatively infertile area.
The resource defenders are the more primitive group: they tend to be smaller in size, dark in colour, males and females fairly alike, have long, tasselated ears, a long mane, and dagger-shaped horns. The grazers evolved more recently. They tend to be larger, highly social, and rather than mark territory with scent glands, they have highly evolved dominance behaviours. There is no sharp dividing line between the groups, just a continuum between the serows at one end of the spectrum and sheep, true goats, and Musk Oxen at the other.
The ancestors of the modern sheep and goats (both rather vague and ill-defined terms) are thought to have moved into mountainous regions: sheep becoming specialised occupants of the foothills and nearby plains, and relying on flight and clumping for defence against predators; goats adapting to very steep terrain where predators are at a disadvantage.
Classification
FAMILY BOVIDAE
- Subfamily Bovinae: cattle and spiral-horned antelopes; 24 species in nine genera
- Subfamily Cephalophinae: duikers; 19 species in two genera
- Subfamily Hippotraginae: grazing antelopes; 23 species in 11 genera
- Subfamily Antilopinae: gazelles, dwarf antelopes and the Saiga; 38 species in 14 genera
- Subfamily Caprinae
- * Genus Ammotragus
- ** Barbary Sheep, Ammotragus lervia
- * Genus Budorcas
- ** Takin, Budorcas taxicolor
- * Genus Capra
- ** Wild Goat, Capra aegagrus
- ** West Caucasian Tur, Capra caucasia
- ** East Caucasian Tur, Capra cylindricornis
- ** Markhor, Capra falconeri
- ** Alpine Ibex, Capra ibex
- ** Nubian Ibex, Capra nubiana
- ** Spanish Ibex, Capra pyrenaica
- ** Siberian Ibex, Capra sibirica
- ** Walia Ibex, Capra walie
- * Genus Hemitragus
- ** Nilgiri Tahr, Hemitragus hylocrius
- ** Arabian Tahr, Hemitragus jayakari
- ** Himalayan Tahr, Hemitragus jemlahicus
- * Genus Nemorhaedus
- ** Red Goral, Nemorhaedus baileyi
- ** Chinese Goral, Nemorhaedus caudatus
- ** Japanese Serow, Nemorhaedus crispus
- ** Gray Goral, Nemorhaedus goral
- ** Mainland Serow, Nemorhaedus sumatraensis
- ** Taiwan Serow, Nemorhaedus swinhoei
- * Genus Oreamnos
- ** Rocky Mountain Goat, Oreamnos americanus
- * Genus Ovibos
- ** Musk Ox, Ovibos moschatus
- * Genus Pseudonovibos
- ** Kting Voar, Pseudonovibos spiralis
- * Genus Ovis
- ** Argali, Ovis ammon
- ** Domestic Sheep, Ovis aries
- ** American Bighorn Sheep, Ovis canadensis
- ** Dall or Thinhorn Sheep, Ovis dalli
- ** European Mouflon, Ovis musimon
- ** Snow Sheep, Ovis nivicola
- ** Urial, Ovis orientalis
- * Genus Pseudois
- ** Bharal (Himalayan blue sheep), Pseudois nayaur
- ** Dwarf Blue Sheep, Pseudois schaeferi
- * Genus Rupicapra
- ** Pyrenean Chamois, Rupicapra pyrenaica
- ** Chamois, Rupicapra rupicapra
- Subfamily Pantholopinae
- * Genus Pantholops
- ** Chiru (Tibetan antelope), Pantholops hodgsoni
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