Caprinae

 ( Extant Miocene First Appearances ) 

The subfamily Caprinae, also sometimes referred to as the tribe Caprini, is part of the ruminant family Bovidae, and consists of mostly medium-sized . A member of this subfamily is called a caprine.

Prominent members include Ovis 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.

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

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 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.

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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.

Valerius Geist (1984). 9780871968715, Facts on File. . ISBN 9780871968715

The group did not reach its greatest diversity until the recent , 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.

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Species Phylogeny based on Hassanin et al., 2009 and Calamari, 2021.

Family Bovidae

• Subfamily Caprinae or Tribe Caprini

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	Arabitragus	Arabian tahr, Arabitragus jayakari
	Budorcas	takin, Budorcas taxicolor
	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
	Hemitragus	Himalayan tahr, Hemitragus jemlahicus
	Nilgiritragus	Nilgiri tahr, Nilgiritragus hylocrius
	Oreamnos	mountain goat, Oreamnos americanus
	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
	Pseudois	bharal (Himalayan blue sheep), Pseudois nayaur
	Rupicapra	Pyrenean chamois, Rupicapra pyrenaica Chamois, Rupicapra rupicapra
	Myotragus	Myotragus balearicus
	Nemorhaedus	red goral, Nemorhaedus baileyi long-tailed goral, Naemorhedus caudatus Grey goral, Nemorhaedus goral Chinese goral, Nemorhaedus griseus
	Ovibos	muskox, Ovibos moschatus

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Fossil genera

The following extinct genera of Caprinae have been identified:

• Tribe Caprini
• Genus Myotragus extinction
• Myotragus balearicus†
• Tribe Ovibovini
• Genus Bootherium extinction
• Bootherium bombifrons†
• Genus Euceratherium extinction
• Euceratherium collinum†
• Genus Makapania extinction
• Makapania broomi†
• Genus Megalovis extinction
• Genus Soergelia extinction
• Soergelia mayfieldi†
• Genus Tsaidamotherium extinction
• 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

Categories: Extant Miocene First Appearances, Taxa Named By John Edward Gray, Mammal Subfamilies

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