eastern quarter of the Ethiopian region. Goats do not range so far north
as sheep, which may be one reason why they have never succeeded in
obtaining an entrance into North America via Bering Strait. During
the cold conditions which obtained in part of the Plistocene epoch they
appear to have been able to exist in Europe near the sea-level. Geologically
they seem an essentially modern group, scarcely any well-defined extinct
species having been described. The earliest appears to have been a species
allied to the markhor from the Pliocene—deposits at the foot of the
Himalaya ; this species, like the existing Suleman markhor, having evidently
lived at a comparatively low elevation above the sea, and probably therefore
having been capable of bearing a high temperature.
Habits^-AW living goats are dwellers on steep cliffs and display
remarkable powers of climbing. In this respect they differ markedly from
most of the larger sheep of the caprovine group, which, as mentioned
above, prefer open rolling Valleys and plateaux. The bharal, the arui,
and apparently also the Kamschatkan bighorn, form, however, to a great
extent a transition in this respect between the other sheep and the goatB
so that no argument drawn from their habits can be urged as a confirmation
of the need of generically separating the two groups. All the various
species of goats associate in herds, although in many cases the old males
keep apart from the females during the greater part of the year. When
they live in regions where trees or bushes flourish, goats are fond of
browsing ; and they are all notable for their wariness and difficulty of
approach. In tame goats the period of gestation, according to Hodgsoh,
is about 160 days. i.
i. T he E a s t C a u c a s ia n T ur— C a p r a c y l in d r ico r n is '
Ovis cylindricornis, Blyth, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1840, p. 68.
Ægocerospallasi, Rouiller, Bull. Soc. Moscou, voi. xiv. p. 908, pi. xi. (1841).