The goat is a versatile animal. It is known as the ‘poor man’s cow’ in India and ‘wet nurse’ of infants in Europe.
Domesticated goat : phylum Chordata (backbone), class Mammalia (suckle their young), order Artiodactyla (hooved, even-toed), family Bovidae (ruminants), genus Capra (domestic and wild goats), and species Capra hircus
Domestication:-
The goat was one of the earliest ruminants to be domesticated (before 6700 BC) probably in Palestine or Iran. Harappan toys contain representatives of goats. The following four species of wild goats are found :-
Capra ibex : Ibex
Capra pyrenacia : Spanish Ibex
Capra falconeri : Markhor – found in Quetta, Turkistan, Afghanistan, Baluchistan & Kashmir
Capra aegarus : Bezoar / Psang / Wild goat - found in Baluchistan, Sind, Asia minor; various
domestic goat breeds have evolved from this
The Kashmir and Chegu are reported to have been derived from the Markhor, and the Angora goat from a cross between the Markhor and Bezoar. The present world-wide distribution of goats shows that the number of milch type goats are more in the temperate zone and dual types are mostly located in sub-tropical Asian and African countries.
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