Caprinae
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| Caprinae Temporal range: Late Miocene–present
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| Stone sheep (Ovis dalli stonei) in British Columbia, 2009 | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Bovidae |
| Subfamily: | Caprinae J. E. Gray, 1821 |
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The subfamily Caprinae is part of the ruminant family Bovidae,[1] and consists of mostly medium-sized bovids. A member of this subfamily is called a caprine,[2] or, more informally, a goat-antelope.
Within this subfamily Caprinae, a prominent tribe, Caprini, includes sheep and goats. Some earlier taxonomies considered Caprinae a separate family called Capridae (with the members being caprids), but now it is usually considered a subfamily within the family Bovidae, with caprines being a kind of bovid.
Characteristics[]
Although most goat-antelopes are gregarious and have fairly stocky builds, they diverge in many other ways – the muskox (Ovibos moschatus) is adapted to the extreme cold of the tundra; the mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) of North America is specialised for very rugged terrain; the urial (Ovis orientalis) occupies a largely infertile area from Kashmir to Iran, including much desert country. The Armenian mouflon (Ovis gmelini gmelini) is thought to be the ancestor of the modern domestic sheep (Ovis aries).
Many species have become extinct since the last ice age, 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.
Members of the group vary considerably in size, from just over 1 m (3 ft) long for a full-grown grey goral (Nemorhaedus goral), to almost 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) long for a musk ox, and from under 30 kg (66 lb) to more than 350 kg (770 lb). Musk oxen in captivity have reached over 650 kg (1,430 lb).[citation needed]
The lifestyles of 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, tessellated ears, long manes, and dagger-shaped horns. The grazers (sometimes collectively known as tsoan caprids, from the Hebrew tso'n meaning sheep and goats) evolved more recently. They tend to be larger, highly social, and rather than mark territory with scent glands, they have highly evolved dominance behaviours. No sharp line divides the groups, but a continuum varies from the serows at one end of the spectrum to sheep, true goats, and musk oxen at the other.
Evolution[]
The goat-antelope, or caprid, group is known from as early as the Miocene, when members of the group resembled the modern serow in their general body form.[3] The group 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 subarctic region.
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 flocking for defence against predators, and goats adapting to very steep terrain where predators are at a disadvantage.
Internal relationships of Caprinae based on mitochondrial DNA.[4]
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Species[]
 | This section needs to be updated. (August 2017) |
Family Bovidae
- Subfamily Caprinae
- Tribe Caprini
Spanish ibex (Capra pyrenaica)
Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana)
Bharal (Pseudois nayaur)- Subtribe Caprina
- Genus Arabitragus
- Arabian tahr, Arabitragus jayakari
- Genus Capra
- Wild goat, Capra aegagrus
- Bezoar ibex, Capra aegagrus aegagrus
- Sindh ibex, Capra aegagrus blythi
- West Caucasian tur, Capra caucasica
- East Caucasian tur, Capra cylindricornis
- Markhor, Capra falconeri
- Domestic goat, Capra hircus
- Alpine ibex, Capra ibex
- Nubian ibex, Capra nubiana
- Iberian ibex, Capra pyrenaica
- Western Spanish ibex, Capra pyrenaica victoriae
- Southeastern Spanish ibex, Capra pyrenaica hispanica
- †Portuguese ibex, Capra pyreneaica lusitanica
- †Pyrenean ibex, Capra pyreneaica pyrenaica
- Siberian ibex, Capra sibirica
- Walia ibex, Capra walie
- Wild goat, Capra aegagrus
- Genus Hemitragus
- Himalayan tahr, Hemitragus jemlahicus
- Genus Nilgiritragus
- Nilgiri tahr, Nilgiritragus hylocrius
- Genus Arabitragus
- Subtribe
- Genus Ammotragus
- Barbary sheep, Ammotragus lervia
- Genus Ovis
- Argali, Ovis ammon
- Marco Polo sheep, Ovis ammon polii
- Domestic sheep, Ovis aries
- Bighorn sheep, Ovis canadensis
- Dall sheep, Ovis dalli
- Mouflon, Ovis gmelini
- Snow sheep, Ovis nivicola
- Urial, Ovis vignei
- Argali, Ovis ammon
- Genus Pseudois
- Bharal (Himalayan blue sheep), Pseudois nayaur
- Genus Ammotragus
- Subtribe Caprina
- Tribe
Grey goral (Nemorhaedus goral)- Subtribe
- Genus Capricornis
- Japanese serow, Capricornis crispus
- Chinese serow, Capricornis milneedwardsii
- Red serow, Capricornis rubidus
- Sumatran serow, Capricornis sumatraensis
- Taiwan serow, Capricornis swinhoei
- Himalayan serow Capricornis thar
- Genus Nemorhaedus
- Red goral, Nemorhaedus baileyi
- Long-tailed goral, Naemorhedus caudatus
- Grey goral, Nemorhaedus goral
- Chinese goral, Nemorhaedus griseus
- Genus Capricornis
- Subtribe
- Genus Oreamnos
- Mountain goat, Oreamnos americanus
- Genus Rupicapra
- Pyrenean chamois, Rupicapra pyrenaica
- Alpine chamois, Rupicapra rupicapra
- Genus Oreamnos
- Subtribe
- Tribe Ovibovini
Takin (Budorcas taxicolor)- Genus Budorcas
- Takin, Budorcas taxicolor
- Genus Ovibos
- Muskox, Ovibos moschatus
- Genus Budorcas
- Tribe Caprini
Fossil genera[]
The following extinct genera of Caprinae have been identified:[5][6]
- Tribe Caprini
- Genus Myotragus †
- Myotragus balearicus†
- Genus Myotragus †
- Tribe Ovibovini
- Genus Bootherium †
- Bootherium bombifrons†
- Genus Euceratherium †
- Euceratherium collinum†
- Genus Makapania †
- Makapania broomi†
- Genus Megalovis †
- Genus Soergelia †
- Soergelia mayfieldi†
- Genus Tsaidamotherium †
- Tsaidamotherium brevirostrum†
- Tsaidamotherium hedini†
- Genus Bootherium †
- Unsorted
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- †Numidocapra
- †Oioceros
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- †Praeovibos
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- †Protoryx
- † Protovis
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References[]
- ^ Gomez, W.; Patterson, T. A.; Swinton, J.; Berini, J. "Bovidae: antelopes, cattle, gazelles, goats, sheep, and relatives". Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
- ^ "Definition of CAPRINE". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
- ^ Geist, Valerius (1984). Macdonald, D. (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Mammals. New York: Facts on File. pp. 584–587. ISBN 0-87196-871-1.
- ^ Bover, Pere; Llamas, Bastien; Mitchell, Kieren J.; Thomson, Vicki A.; Alcover, Josep Antoni; Lalueza-Fox, Carles; Cooper, Alan; Pons, Joan (July 2019). "Unraveling the phylogenetic relationships of the extinct bovid Myotragus balearicus Bate 1909 from the Balearic Islands". Quaternary Science Reviews. 215: 185–195. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.05.005.
- ^ tolweb.org
- ^ "palaeos.org". Archived from the original on 2013-11-09. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
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- Caprids
- Extant Miocene first appearances
- Taxa named by John Edward Gray
- Mammal subfamilies