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Subfamily Caprinae is part of the Bovidae family of ruminants, consisting of mostly medium-sized bovids. Its members are commonly referred to as goat-antelopes or caprids. The domestic sheep and domestic goat are both part of the goat-antelope group by its widest definition, but some taxonomists prefer to use the term only for members of the Caprinae that are not members of the tribe Caprini (caprines). The term "goat-antelope" does not mean that these animals are true antelopes: a true antelope is a bovid with a cervid-like or antilocaprid-like morphology. ==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 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 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 grey goral (''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 in size, dark in colour, males and females fairly alike, have long, tassellated ears, long manes, and dagger-shaped horns. The grazers (sometimes collectively known as tsoan caprids, from the Semitic ''tso'wn'' meaning "to migrate") 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. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Caprinae」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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