Serow

Serow
	Mainland serow (Capricornis sumatraensis) at Dusit Zoo, Bangkok, Thailand.
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Bovidae
Subfamily:	Caprinae
Tribe:	Ovibovini
Genus:	Capricornis; Ogilby, 1837
Species
	Capricornis crispus; Capricornis rubidus; Capricornis sumatraensis; Capricornis swinhoei

The serows (/səˈroʊ/ or /ˈsɛroʊ/) are four species of medium-sized goat-like or antelope-like mammals of the genus Capricornis.

Extant species

All four species of serow were until recently also classified under Naemorhedus, which now only contains the gorals. They live in central and eastern Asia.

Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
Capricornis crispus	Japanese serow	Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku in Japan
Capricornis sumatraensis	Mainland serow	Eastern Himalayas, eastern and southeastern Bangladesh, China, Southeast Asia, and on the Indonesian island of Sumatra
Capricornis rubidus	Red serow	southern Bangladesh and northern Myanmar
Capricornis swinhoei	Taiwan serow	Taiwan

Like their smaller relatives the gorals, serows are often found grazing on rocky hills, though typically at a lower elevation when the two types of animal share territory. 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 glands in scent marking.

Coloration varies by species, region, and individual. Both sexes have beards and small horns which are often shorter than their ears.

Fossils of serow-like animals date as far back as the late Pliocene, two to seven million years ago. The common ancestor species of the Caprinae 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 (source: IUCN 2008).

References

^ Grubb, P. (2005). Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 703–705. ISBN 0-8018-8221-4. OCLC 62265494.

External links

"Serow" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). 1911.

[msw3-1] Grubb, P. (2005). Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 703–705. ISBN 0-8018-8221-4. OCLC 62265494.

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