Biology:Capra (genus)

Short description: Genus of mammals, the goats

Capra Temporal range: 2.58–0 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ Early Pleistocene-Present
Capra, St. Leonhard in Passeier, Italy
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Bovidae
Subfamily:	Caprinae
Tribe:	Caprini
Genus:	Capra Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
Capra hircus Linnaeus, 1758
Species
See text.
Approximate range of the Capra species

Capra is a genus of mammals, the goats, comprising ten species, including the markhor and several species known as ibexes. The domestic goat (Capra hircus) is a domesticated species derived from the wild goat (Capra aegagrus). Evidence of goat domestication dates back more than 8,500 years.

Wild goats are animals of mountain habitats. They are very agile and hardy, able to climb on bare rock and survive on sparse vegetation. They can be distinguished from the genus Ovis, which includes sheep, by the presence of scent glands close to the feet, in the groin, and in front of the eyes, and the absence of other facial glands, and by the presence of a beard in some specimens, and of hairless calluses on the knees of the forelegs.

The Rocky Mountain goat is in a separate genus, Oreamnos. Present-day genetic and phenotypic differences between the Capra species are largely related to (1) discontinuity of and impeded migration between Capra populations during glacial periods, and (2) insufficient time in the postglacial period for now-adjoining Capra populations to overcome behavioral mechanisms impeding hybridization in the wild so as to erase these differences.

Taxonomy

Male Nubian ibex

Caprine heart.

All members of the genus Capra are bovids (members of the family Bovidae), and more specifically caprines (subfamily Caprinae). As such they are ruminants, meaning they chew the cud, and have four-chambered stomachs which play a vital role in digesting, regurgitating, and redigesting their food.

The genus has sometimes been taken to include Ovis (sheep) and Ammotragus (Barbary sheep), but these are usually regarded as distinct genera, leaving Capra for ibexes. In this smaller genus, some authors have recognized only two species, the markhor on one side and all other forms included in one species on the other side. Today, nine wild species are usually accepted to which is added the domestic goat:

• West Asian ibex also known as the wild goat (Capra aegagrus)
  • Bezoar ibex (Capra aegagrus aegagrus)
  • Sindh ibex (Capra aegagrus blythi)
• Domestic goat (Capra hircus; includes feral goat; sometimes considered a subspecies of C. aegagrus)
• Asian ibex also known as the Siberian ibex (Capra sibirica)
• Markhor (Capra falconeri)
• West Caucasian tur (Capra caucasica)
• East Caucasian tur (Capra cylindricornis)
• Alpine ibex (Capra ibex)
• Iberian ibex also known as the Spanish ibex (Capra pyrenaica)
• Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana)
• Walia ibex (Capra walie)

The goats of the genus Capra have complex systematic relationships, which are still not completely resolved. Recent studies based on mitochondrial DNA suggest that the Asian ibex and the Nubian ibex represent distinct species, which are not very closely related to the physically similar Alpine ibex. The Alpine ibex forms a group with the Iberian ibex. The West Caucasian tur appears to be more closely related to the wild goat than to the East Caucasian tur. The markhor is relatively little separated from other forms—previously it had been considered to be a separate branch of the genus.

Almost all wild goat species are allopatric (geographically separated)—the only geographical overlaps are the wild goat (Capra aegagrus) with the East Caucasian tur (Capra cylindricornis), and the markhor (Capra falconeri) with the Asian ibex (Capra sibirica). In both cases, the overlapping species do not usually interbreed in the wild, but in captivity, all Capra species can interbreed, producing fertile offspring.

Species and subspecies

Image	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
	Capra sibirica	Asian ibex	central and northern Asia, Afghanistan, western and northern China (Primarily Xinjiang), north-western India, south-eastern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, eastern Uzbekistan, Mongolia, northern Pakistan, and south-central Russia.
	Capra falconeri	Markhor	Central Asia, Karakoram and the Himalayas
	Capra hircus	Domesticated goat	Domesticated
	Capra aegagrus	Wild goat	Turkey and the Caucasus in the west to Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan
	Capra cylindricornis	East Caucasian tur	Greater Caucasus Mountains
	Capra caucasica	West Caucasian tur	Caucasus Mountains range.
	Capra ibex	Alpine ibex	France, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Bavaria, Austria and Slovenia
	Capra pyrenaica	Iberian ibex	Iberian Peninsula
	Capra nubiana	Nubian ibex	Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen
	Capra walie	Walia ibex	Ethiopia

Domestication and uses

Goats used for natural weed control

Ibex securely climbing rocky slope

Along with sheep, goats were among the first domesticated animals. The domestication process started at least 10,000 years ago in what is now northern Iran. Easy human access to goat hair, meat, and milk were the primary motivations. Goat skins were popularly used until the Middle Ages for water and wine bottles when traveling and camping, and in certain regions as parchment for writing.

External links

•  "Ibex". New International Encyclopedia. 1905. 

Wikidata ☰ Q172923 entry