Capra hircus Linnaeus 1758

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Artiodactyla, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 637-722 : 701

Capra hircus Linnaeus 1758

Capra hircus Linnaeus 1758 , Syst. Nat., 10th ed., Vol. 1: 68 .

Type Locality: "Habitat in montosis"; identified as Sweden ( Thomas, 1911 a:152), based on domesticated stock .

Vernacular Names: Goat.

Subspecies: :

Subspecies Capra hircus subsp. hircus Linnaeus 1758

Subspecies Capra hircus subsp. aegagrus Erxleben 1777

Subspecies Capra hircus subsp. chialtanensis ( Lydekker 1913)

Subspecies Capra hircus subsp. cretica Schinz 1838

Subspecies Capra hircus subsp. jourensis Ivrea 1899

Subspecies Capra hircus subsp. picta Erhard 1858

Distribution: Afghanistan, Caucasus region ( Armenia, Azerbaijan, NE Georgia, and S Russia), Iraq, Iran, Israel (till Neolithic), Jordan (extinct), Lebanon (extinct), S Pakistan, Syria (extinct), Turkey, and S Turkmenistan; anciently introduced into Greek isls and probably Oman. Domesticated worldwide; feral populations in British Isles, islands in the Mediterranean, USA, Canada, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, Australia, New Zealand and many oceanic islands including Bonin, Hawaiian, Galapagos, Seychelles, and Juan Fernandez Isls.

Conservation: CITES – Appendix I; ESA – Endangered C. falconeri (= aegagrus ) chiltanensis [sic]; IUCN – Critically Endangered as C. aegagrus chialtanensis ; otherwise Vulnerable as C. acera and as C. a. aegagrus , C. a. cretica, and C. a. blythi.

Discussion: Includes aegagrus , but see Corbet (1978 c:214). Gentry et al. (1996) proposed that majority usage be confirmed by adoption of Capra aegagrus as the name for the wild taxon of Goats and asked the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature to use its plenary power to rule that the name for this wild species is not invalid by virtue of being antedated by the name based on the domestic form. A ruling has now been made in their favour ( International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, 2003 a). It might still be valid for those who consider C. hircus and C. aegagrus to be conspecific to employ the senior name for the name of the species (see Bock, 1997). Both names have been used when referring to wild Goats. Capra aegagrus Erxleben, 1777 is a junior synonym of C. bezoartica Linnaeus, 1766 whose syntypes may have included other species ( Blanford, 1875 b); bezoartica may be regarded as a nomen oblitum. Populations anciently introduced to Greek islands include cretica on Crete and Theodorou, jourensis on Giura or Joura in the Northern Sporades, and picta on Antimilo or Erimomilos in the Cyclades. They have been regarded as synonyms of hircus or aegagrus , but their systematic status needs evaluation. Provisionally, aegagrus , cretica, jourensis and picta are listed here as subspecies of C. hircus . A DNA analysis of cretica, aegagrus and domestic Goats ( Kahila Bar-Gal et al., 2002) found that cretica was closely allied to domestic Goats and an Iranian wild Goat while a wild Goat from Turkmenistan was distinct. Capra hircus chialtanensis is a population originating from hybrids between Goat and Markhor; Schaller (1977) identified it as most like C. hircus and did not consider it valid, while Manceau et al. (1999 a) regarded it as a markhor or a hybrid, from mtDNA sequence data.