Genus

Capra

22 species

The list of species of Capra genus

Capra is a genus of mammals, the goats, composed of up to nine species, including the markhor and many species known as ibexes. The domestic goat (Capra hircus) is a domesticated species derived from the wild goat (Capra aegagrus). Evidence of goat domestication dates back more than 8,500 years.

Wild goats are animals of mountain habitats. They are very agile and hardy, able to climb on bare rock and survive on sparse vegetation. They can be distinguished from the genus Ovis, which includes sheep, by the presence of scent glands close to the feet, in the groin, and in front of the eyes, and the absence of other facial glands, and by the presence of a beard in some specimens, and of hairless calluses on the knees of the forelegs.

The Rocky Mountain goat is in a separate genus, Oreamnos. Present-day genetic and phenotypic differences between the Capra species are largely related to (1) discontinuity of and impeded migration between Capra populations during glacial periods, and (2) insufficient time in the postglacial period for now-adjoining Capra populations to overcome behavioral mechanisms impeding hybridization in the wild so as to erase these differences.

show less
Source
The list of species of Capra genus

Capra is a genus of mammals, the goats, composed of up to nine species, including the markhor and many species known as ibexes. The domestic goat (Capra hircus) is a domesticated species derived from the wild goat (Capra aegagrus). Evidence of goat domestication dates back more than 8,500 years.

Wild goats are animals of mountain habitats. They are very agile and hardy, able to climb on bare rock and survive on sparse vegetation. They can be distinguished from the genus Ovis, which includes sheep, by the presence of scent glands close to the feet, in the groin, and in front of the eyes, and the absence of other facial glands, and by the presence of a beard in some specimens, and of hairless calluses on the knees of the forelegs.

The Rocky Mountain goat is in a separate genus, Oreamnos. Present-day genetic and phenotypic differences between the Capra species are largely related to (1) discontinuity of and impeded migration between Capra populations during glacial periods, and (2) insufficient time in the postglacial period for now-adjoining Capra populations to overcome behavioral mechanisms impeding hybridization in the wild so as to erase these differences.

show less
Source