species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...
of medium-sized
goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
-like or
antelope
The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia.
Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mamm ...
-like mammals of the genus ''Capricornis''. All four species of serow were until recently also classified under ''
Naemorhedus
The gorals are four species in the genus ''Naemorhedus''. They are small ungulates with a goat-like or antelope-like appearance. Until recently, this genus also contained the serow species (now in genus '' Capricornis'').
Etymology
The original ...
This genus has been studied and organized a number of times. In 2005, Mammal Species of the World 3rd ed. listed six different species (''C. crispus'', ''C. milneedwardsii'', ''C. rubidus'', ''C. sumatraensis'', ''C. swinhoei'', and ''C. thar''), with two subspecies of ''C. milneedwardsii''. The current consensus are the following four species, with ''milneedwardsii'' and ''thar'' demoted to subspecies of ''C. sumatraensis'':
Serows live in central and eastern
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
. Their coloration varies by species, region, and individual. Both sexes have beards and small horns which are often shorter than their ears.
Like their smaller relatives the gorals, serows are often found grazing on rocky hills, though typically at a lower elevation when one species of each share
territory
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...
. Serows are slower and less agile than gorals, but they nevertheless can climb slopes to escape predation, and to take shelter during cold winters or hot summers. Serows, unlike gorals, make use of their
preorbital gland
The preorbital gland is a paired exocrine gland found in many species of hoofed animals, which is homologous to the lacrimal gland found in humans. These glands are trenchlike slits of dark blue to black, nearly bare skin extending from the me ...
s in scent marking.
Fossils of serow-like animals date as far back as the late
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Caprinae subfamily may have been very similar to modern serows.
The serow subfamily population as a whole is considered endangered. Most serow species are included in the red list of IUCN with decreasing populations. The Japanese serow is better protected than the other sub-species of serows.