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.

More on [ Goat antelope ]

Caprinae - Twitter Search

Caprinae Specialist Group: The website of the IUCN Caprinae Specialist Group gives details of the aims and struc.. http://bit.ly/14tKVe
intute (Intute) Tue, 18 Aug 2009 05:39:45 -0000
Caprinae Specialist Group: The website of the IUCN Caprinae Specialist Group gives details of the aims and struc.. http://bit.ly/14tKVe

Subscribe to Caprinae RSS feed