goat

goat, ruminant mammal with hollow horns and coarse hair belonging to the genus Capra of the cattle family and closely related to the sheep. True wild goats, all of Old World origin, include the Persian bezoar goat, or pasan, possibly the ancestor of the domestic varieties; the several species of ibex (including the tur), and the markhor of Asia, with spirally twisted horns. The Rocky Mountain goat and the chamois are not true goats but are closely related. Goats are hardy cliff dwellers, preferring an arid climate. They live in herds and feed on grass, weeds, shrubs, and other vegetation. Goats were early domesticated; they are pictured in ancient Egyptian art and mentioned in the Bible. Domestic goats, varieties of Capra hircus, are found throughout the world, most abundantly in Asia. They are raised for milk, flesh, hair and wool, skins, and, in certain areas, to control scrub growth. Goat's milk is easily digested and has greater protein and fat content than that of cows. The chief dairy breeds in the United States are the Toggenburg and Saanen (both of Swiss origin), as well as the Nubian, French Alpine, and Rock Alpine goats. Many dairy goats are hornless. The Cashmere goat is raised in central Asia, N India, and Iran for the wool of its downy undercoat. Angora goats, whose clipped wool is known as mohair, are more numerous than other breeds in the United States; they are raised chiefly in Texas. The Spanish, or common, goat, familiar in the Southwest, was brought to Mexico by early Spanish settlers. Goats are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Artiodactyla, family Bovidae.

Goat, The, English name for Capricornus, a constellation.

or Rocky Mountain goat

Ruminant (bovid species Oreamnos americanus) of the Yukon to the northern Rockies that is more closely related to antelopes than to goats. Stocky, with a hump at the withers, mountain goats stand about 40 in. (1 m) at the shoulder. Both sexes bear short, hollow, slightly backward-curving, black horns. The shaggy, coarse white hair covers a thick, woolly underfur, and a beard frames the slender muzzle. The hooves are black. Mountain goats are agile climbers and can leap more than 12 ft (3.5 m). They live in small bands above the timberline, eating moss, lichen, and scrub foliage.

Learn more about mountain goat with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Any hollow-horned ruminant in the bovid genus Capra. Goats have a lighter build and straighter hair than sheep; their horns arch backward; and the tail is short. Males usually have a beard. Wild goats include the ibex and markhor. Domesticated goats are descended from the pasang, which is probably native to Asia. In China, Great Britain, Europe, and North America, the domestic goat is primarily a milk producer; much of the milk is used to make cheese. Some breeds, notably the Angora and cashmere, are raised for their wool; young goats are the source of kid leather.

Learn more about goat with a free trial on Britannica.com.

or Capricornus

(Latin: “Goat horn”) In astronomy, the constellation lying between Aquarius and Sagittarius; in astrology, the tenth sign of the zodiac, governing approximately the period December 22–January 19. It is represented as a goat with what appears to be a fishtail. One explanation for this odd depiction is that it derives from the Greek myth of Pan. To avoid the monster Typhon, Pan jumped into the water just as he was changing into animal shape. The half of his body above water became a goat, while the submerged half took the shape of a fish. Another relates the form to the Mesopotamian deity Enki (see Ea).

Learn more about Capricorn with a free trial on Britannica.com.

The term goat-antelope usually means any of the species of mostly medium-sized bovids that make up the subfamily Caprinae (as treated here). 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. "Goat antelope" also sometimes refers to the Tibetan antelope.

Characteristics

Although most goat-antelopes are gregarious and have a fairly stocky build, they diverge in many other ways. For example the Musk Ox (Ovibos moschatus), is adapted to the extreme cold of the tundra; the Rocky 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 European mouflon (Ovis musimon) is thought to be the ancestor of the modern domestic sheep (Ovis aries).

Many species became 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 grey goral (Nemorhaedus goral), to almost long for a musk ox, and from under to more than . Musk oxen in captivity have reached over .

In lifestyle, the 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 in size, dark in colour, males and females fairly alike, have long, tassellated ears, a long mane, and dagger-shaped horns. The grazers evolved more recently. They tend to be larger, highly social, and rather than mark territory with scent glands, they have highly evolved dominance behaviours. There is no sharp dividing line between the groups, but a continuum between the serows at one end of the spectrum and sheep, true goats, and musk oxen at the other.

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. 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.

Classification

FAMILY BOVIDAE

• Subfamily Caprinae
• Tribe Ovibovini
• Genus Budorcas
• Takin, Budorcas taxicolor
• Genus Ovibos
• Musk ox, Ovibos moschatus
• Tribe Caprini
• Genus Ammotragus
• Barbary sheep, Ammotragus lervia
• Genus Capra
• Wild goat, Capra aegagrus
• Domestic goat, Capra aegagrus hircus
• West Caucasian tur, Capra caucasia
• East Caucasian tur, Capra cylindricornis
• Markhor, Capra falconeri
• Alpine ibex, Capra ibex
• Nubian ibex, Capra nubiana
• Spanish ibex, Capra pyrenaica
• Siberian ibex, Capra sibirica
• Walia ibex, Capra walie
• Genus Hemitragus
• Nilgiri tahr, Hemitragus hylocrius
• Arabian tahr, Hemitragus jayakari
• Himalayan tahr, Hemitragus jemlahicus
• Genus Ovis
• Argali, Ovis ammon
• Domestic sheep, Ovis aries
• American bighorn sheep, Ovis canadensis
• Dall or thinhorn sheep, Ovis dalli
• European mouflon, Ovis musimon
• Snow sheep, Ovis nivicola
• Urial, Ovis orientalis
• Genus Pseudois
• Bharal (Himalayan blue sheep), Pseudois nayaur
• Dwarf blue sheep, Pseudois schaeferi
• Tribe Naemorhedini
• Genus Capricornis
• Japanese serow, Capricornis crispus
• Mainland serow, Capricornis sumatraensis
• Taiwan serow, Capricornis swinhoei
• Genus Nemorhaedus
• Red goral, Nemorhaedus baileyi
• Chinese goral, Nemorhaedus caudatus
• Grey goral, Nemorhaedus goral
• Genus Oreamnos
• Mountain goat, Oreamnos americanus
• Genus Rupicapra
• Pyrenean chamois, Rupicapra pyrenaica
• Chamois, Rupicapra rupicapra
• Subfamily Pantholopinae
• Genus Pantholops
• Chiru (Tibetan antelope), Pantholops hodgsoni

References