Goat – Capra hircus

Capra hircusLinnaeus, 1758

Accepted name, Mammal Species of the World 2005

Includes aegagrus, but see Corbet (1978c: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, 2003a). 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, 1875b); bezoartica may be regarded as a nomen oblitum. Popu... [truncated]

• Wilson, D and Reeder, D. (eds.) 2005. Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. 3rd ed. -- 2142 pp. Johns Hopkins University Press.