Caprinae

The subfamily Caprinae,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> also sometimes referred to as the tribe Caprini,<ref>Template:Citation</ref> is part of the ruminant family Bovidae,<ref name=Adw>Template:Cite web</ref> and consists of mostly medium-sized bovids. A member of this subfamily is called a caprine.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Prominent members include sheep and goats, with some other members referred to as goat antelopes. Some earlier taxonomies considered Caprinae a separate family called Capridae (with the members being caprids), but now it is usually considered either a subfamily within the Bovidae, or a tribe within the subfamily Antilopinae of the family Bovidae, with caprines being a type of bovid.

Characteristics

Skeleton of a Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia) on display at the Museum of Osteology

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 Template:Convert long for a full-grown grey goral (Naemorhedus goral), to almost Template:Convert long for a musk ox, and from under Template:Convert to more than Template:Convert. Musk oxen in captivity have reached over Template:Convert.Template: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, 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

Palaeoreas lindermayeri fossil

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.<ref name=EoM>Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Species

Phylogeny based on Hassanin et al., 2009 and Calamari, 2021.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Template:See also Family Bovidae

• Subfamily Caprinae or Tribe Caprini

Tribe or subtribe	Image	Genus	Species
Caprini or Caprina		Ammotragus Template:Small	Barbary sheep, Ammotragus lervia
		Arabitragus Template:Small	Arabian tahr, Arabitragus jayakari
		Budorcas Template:Small	takin, Budorcas taxicolor
		Capra Template:Small	West Asian ibex, 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
		Hemitragus Template:Small	Himalayan tahr, Hemitragus jemlahicus
		Nilgiritragus Template:Small	Nilgiri tahr, Nilgiritragus hylocrius
		Oreamnos Template:Small	mountain goat, Oreamnos americanus
		Ovis Template:Small	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
		Pseudois Template:Small	bharal (Himalayan blue sheep), Pseudois nayaur
		Rupicapra Template:Small	Pyrenean chamois, Rupicapra pyrenaica alpine chamois, Rupicapra rupicapra
		Template:ExtinctMyotragus Template:Small	Myotragus balearicus
Ovibovini or Ovibovina		Capricornis Template:Small	Japanese serow, Capricornis crispus Chinese serow, Capricornis milneedwardsii red serow, Capricornis rubidus Sumatran serow, Capricornis sumatraensis Taiwan serow, Capricornis swinhoei Himalayan serow Capricornis thar
		Naemorhedus Template:Small	red goral, Naemorhedus baileyi long-tailed goral, Naemorhedus caudatus gray goral, Naemorhedus goral Chinese goral, Naemorhedus griseus
		Ovibos Template:Small	muskox, Ovibos moschatus
Pantholopini or Pantholopina		Pantholops Template:Small	Tibetan antelope, Pantholops hodgsonii

Fossil genera

The following extinct genera of Caprinae have been identified:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

• Tribe Caprini
  • Genus Myotragus †
    • Myotragus balearicus†
• 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†

Unsorted

• †Benicerus
• †Boopsis
• †Capraoryx
• †Caprotragoides
• †Criotherium
• †Damalavus
• †Gallogoral
• †Lyrocerus
• †Mesembriacerus
• †Neotragocerus
• †Nesogoral
• †Norbertia
• †Numidocapra
• †Oioceros
• †Olonbulukia
• †Pachygazella
• †Pachytragus
• †Palaeoreas
• †Palaeoryx
• †Paraprotoryx
• †Parapseudotragus
• †Parurmiatherium
• †Praeovibos
• †Procamptoceras
• †Prosinotragus
• †Protoryx
• †Protovis
• †Pseudotragus
• †Qurliqnoria
• †Samotragus
• †Sinocapra
• †Sinomegoceros
• †Sinopalaeoceros
• †Sinotragus
• †Sivacapra
• †Sporadotragus
• †Tethytragus
• †Tossunnoria
• †Turcocerus
• †Urmiatherium