The mainland serow (''Capricornis sumatraensis'') is a

serow The serows ( or ) are four species of medium-sized goat-like or antelope-like mammals of the genus ''Capricornis''. All four species of serow were until recently also classified under ''Naemorhedus'', which now only contains the gorals. Extant ...

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 ...

native to the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. The mainland serow is related closely to the red serow,

Himalayan serow The Himalayan serow (''Capricornis sumatraensis thar''), also known as the thar ( , ), is a subspecies of the mainland serow native to the Himalayas. It was previously considered its own species, as ''Capricornis thar''. It is the official state ...

Sumatran serow The Sumatran serow (''Capricornis sumatraensis sumatraensis''), also known as the southern serow, is a subspecies of the mainland serow native to mountain forests in the Thai-Malay Peninsula and on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It was previo ...

, and the Chinese serow (''C. milneedwardsii)''.

Taxonomy

In 1831,

Brian Houghton Hodgson Brian Houghton Hodgson (1 February 1800 or more likely 1801 – 23 May 1894) was a pioneer naturalist and ethnologist working in India and Nepal where he was a British Resident. He described numerous species of birds and mammals from the Hima ...

first described a goat-like animal with short annulated horns occurring in

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial ...

regions between the

Sutlej The Sutlej or Satluj River () is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. The Sutlej River is also known as ''Satadru''. It is the easternmost tributary of the In ...

and

Teesta River Teesta River is a long river that rises in the Pauhunri Mountain of eastern Himalayas, flows through the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal through Rangpur, and enters the Bay of Bengal. It drains an area of . In India, it flows throug ...

s under the name "Bubaline Antelope". As "Bubaline" was preoccupied, he gave it the

scientific name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bo ...

''Antelope thar'' a few months later. When

William Ogilby William Ogilby (1805–1873) was an Irish-born zoologist who was at the forefront of classification and naming of animal species in the 1830s and served as Secretary of the Zoological Society of London from 1839 to 1847. He removed to Ireland ...

described the genus '' Capricornis'' in 1838, he determined the Himalayan serow as

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specim ...

of this genus. Teeth from ''C. sumatraensis'' were found in a dig from Khok Sung, estimated to originate from the

Middle Pleistocene The Chibanian, widely known by its previous designation of Middle Pleistocene, is an age in the international geologic timescale or a stage in chronostratigraphy, being a division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. Th ...

Characteristics

The mainland serow possesses guard hairs on its coat that are bristly or coarse and cover the layer of fur closest to its skin to varying degrees. The animal has a mane that runs from the horns to the middle of the dorsal aspect of the animal between the scapulae covering the skin. The horns are only characteristic of the males and are light-colored, approximately six inches in length, and curve slightly towards the animal's back. The mainland serow, both male and female, is around three feet high at the shoulder, and typically weighs around 200 pounds.

Distribution and habitat

The Himalayan serow inhabits hilly forests above an elevation of , but descends to in winter. It prefers elevations of in the

. The mainland serow is found in central and southern

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist s ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, and in Indonesian Islands of

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

. Its distribution follows forested mountain ranges. The mainland serow inhabits steep, rugged hills up to an elevation of . It prefers rocky terrain but is also found in forests and flat areas. It is able to swim to small offshore islands. This species has a moderate level of tolerance to human disturbance, and could persist well in habitat fragments and secondary forests, though avoiding farmlands.

Behaviour and ecology

The mainland serow is territorial and lives alone or in small groups. Females give birth to a single young after a gestation period of about eight months.

Conservation

The mainland serow is protected under

CITES Appendix I CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of intern ...

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q10593990, from2=Q431337 mainland serow Mammals of Indonesia Mammals of Nepal Mammals of Thailand Mammals of China Mammals of Bhutan Mammals of Malaysia Fauna of Southeast Asia mainland serow