![]() ![]() The following extinct genera of Caprinae have been identified: Long-tailed goral, Naemorhedus caudatus.Sumatran serow, Capricornis sumatraensis.Chinese serow, Capricornis milneedwardsii.Bharal (Himalayan blue sheep), Pseudois nayaur.† Pyrenean ibex, Capra pyreneaica pyrenaica.† Portuguese ibex, Capra pyreneaica lusitanica.Southeastern Spanish ibex, Capra pyrenaica hispanica.Western Spanish ibex, Capra pyrenaica victoriae.East Caucasian tur, Capra cylindricornis.Phylogeny based on Hassanin et al., 2009 and Calamari, 2021. Internal relationships of Caprinae based on mitochondrial DNA. 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. ![]() 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 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. 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.Įvolution Palaeoreas lindermayeri fossil They tend to be larger, highly social, and rather than mark territory with scent glands, they have highly evolved dominance behaviours. The grazers (sometimes collectively known as tsoan caprids, from the Hebrew tso'n meaning sheep and goats) evolved more recently. 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 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. Musk oxen in captivity have reached over 650 kg (1,430 lb). 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).
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