Mountain goat


Mountain goat
Mountain Goat, Enchantments Basin.jpg
Mountain goat in the Cascades
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Caprinae
Tribe: Caprini
Genus: Oreamnos
Species:
O. americanus
Binomial name
Oreamnos americanus
(Blainville, 1816)
Oreamnos americanus distribution.svg
Synonyms
  • Mazama dorsata Rafinesque, 1817
  • R[upicapra]. americanus de Blainville, 1816

The mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus), also known as the Rocky Mountain goat, is a hoofed mammal endemic to mountainous areas of western North America. A subalpine to alpine species, it is a sure-footed climber commonly seen on cliffs and ice.

Despite its vernacular name and both genera being in the same subfamily (Caprinae), the mountain goat is not a member of Capra, the genus that includes all other goats, such as the wild goat (Capra aegagrus), from which the domestic goat is derived. Instead, it is more closely allied with the takins (Budorcas) and chamois (Rupicapra).

  1. ^ Festa-Bianchet, M. (2020). "Oreamnos americanus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T42680A22153133. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T42680A22153133.en. Retrieved 13 November 2021.

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