Systematics :

The ibex is classified in the Cetartiodactyla order (formerly Artiodactyla): the axis of the limb passes between rays No III and No IV, i.e., between metacarpals/metatarsals No III and No IV, which become dominant, and between the corresponding digits. At the ankle, the talus has a double pulley, one of which articulates with the base of the tibia and the other with two other bones (cuboid and navicular, fused in the ibex).

The ibex is a ruminant, and its stomach is made up of four compartments (the rumen, the reticulum, the omasum, and the abomasum).

 

Distribution:

The ibex is found mainly in the highlands of Eurasia, the Middle East and the Mediterranean islands. The number of species varies between eight and nine depending on the classification;: Siberian ibex, East Caucasian ibex, West Caucasian ibex, Alpine ibex, Pyrenean ibex, Nubian ibex, Abyssinian ibex (also considered to be a subspecies of the Nubian ibex), Markhor ibex, Eagre goat (see figure below).

Current species (illustrations taken from Crégut-Bonnoure E., 2021 a and b)

A. Siberian ibex, Capra sibirica. Photo Jean-Paul Crampe

B. East Caucasian ibex, Capra cylindricornis. Photo by Nikoloz Kerdikoshvili

C. West Caucasian ibex, Capra caucasica. Photo by Jean-Paul Crampe

D. Falconer ibex, Capra falconeri. Photo by Jean-Paul Crampe

E. Nubian ibex, Capra nubiana. Photo François Grandin/MNHN

F. Ethiopian ibex, Capra walie. Photo by Georges Courrèges in ‘les Ethiopiens singulières’ (ed. Hozhoni, 2018)

G. Eagre goat, Capra aegagrus. Photo Jean-Paul Crampe

H. Alpine ibex, Capra ibex. Photo by Jean-Paul Crampe

I. Iberian ibex, Capra pyrenaica victoriae. Gredos massif, Spain. Photo by Jean-Paul Crampe

 

Morphology:

The ibex is a rock-dwelling ungulate with a stocky body and powerful limbs, with calluses on the knees. Its tail is short and flattened and hairless on the underside.  The males have goatees or beards. Ibex limbs are in contact with the ground through the toes. The last phalanx is protected by a hoof made up of an outer horny wall and a highly elastic foot pad sole which provides an excellent grip on small irregular surfaces. There are two dewclaws above the hoof. Their dentition is adapted to eating plants, around twenty kilos a day.

 

Horns:

In both sexes, the skull is capped by two permanent frontal expansions, the horn cores, whose centres are partitioned by large vacuoles. They are covered by a keratin sheath that forms the horn itself. The horns are elongated and located immediately behind the eye sockets. They grow each year between March and November and then stop in winter, forming a furrow. The horns are consequently covered by annual growth rings that enable us to determine the age of the individual.

Female horns are thin and short, and not very developed. In males, the horns are organs of defence and supremacy: they are very large and adapted to frontal combat. Their shape varies from species to species (curved backwards or sideways, sabre-shaped, lyre-shaped, twisted, etc.), as does the ornamentation on the anterior (rostral) face (tuberosities, notches) and their cross-section (rounded, flattened, triangular).

 

Origin:

The origin of the Capra genus is an open question. Genetic analyses and skeletal morphology data point to a common Asian ancestor with another mountain ungulate, the tahr. Despite several mentions of the taxon in Eurasia at the beginning of the Quaternary, identifications are still a matter of debate.

However, reliable data exist from the Middle Pleistocene onwards. For example, the Caucasian species was present in Transcaucasia at the end of this period. Similarly, the Alpine ibex colonised Western Europe around 250,000 years ago, when it reached France and the north-eastern coast of Spain. Around 80,000 years ago, the ‘pre-Pyrenean’ ibex became distinct in the foothills of the Pyrenees. The specific status of the latter is still unclear (it bears all the morphometric characteristics of the Caucasian ibex, but could also derive from the Alpine ibex transformed by genetic drift - a speciation phenomenon?), but it is the ancestor of the Pyrenean ibex and the Iberian ibex.

Evelyne Crégut-Bonnoure, palaeontologist, honorary curator, researcher associated with UMR 5608 TRACES

Quote this text (English version) : Crégut-Bonnoure E., 2022.  Origin and zoology of the ibex in: Averbouh A., Feruglio F. & Plassard F. Dir. The Jean-Clottes database, Animal representation in Prehistory (BJC), "Ibex File", English version online on XXXX 2024, https://animal-representation.cnrs.fr/s/bjc/page/origine-zoologie-bouquetin[MOU1] 

Quote this text (version française) : Crégut-Bonnoure E., 2022. Origine et zoologie du bouquetin in : Averbouh A., Feruglio F. & Plassard F. Dir. Base Jean-Clottes, Les représentations animales de la Préhistoire (BJC), "Dossier bouquetin", mis en ligne le 15 Novembre 2022, https://animal-representation.cnrs.fr/s/bjc/page/origine-zoologie-bouquetin[MOU2] 

 

References used

Couturier M., 1962. Le bouquetin des Alpes. Couturier M. édit., Grenoble, 1962 : 1564 p.

Crégut-Bonnoure E., 2020. Les Ovibovini, Caprini et Ovini (Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Bovidae, Caprinae) du Plio-Pléistocène d’Europe : systématique, évolution et biochronologie. British International Series, 2975, I et II : 592 p. (Tableaux en ligne).

Crégut-Bonnoure E., 2021 a. Le bouquetin. In Averbouh A., Feruglio V., Plassard F. et Sauvet dir. Bouquetins et Pyrénées. Tome I De la Préhistoire à nos jours. Offert à Jean Clottes, conservateur général honoraire du Patrimoine, Aix-en-Provence : Presses Universitaires de Provence, PréMed, 23-30

Crégut-Bonnoure E., 2021 b. L’origine du bouquetin et des formes Capra ibex et Capra pyrenaica. In Averbouh A., Feruglio V., Plassard F. et Sauvet dir. Bouquetins et Pyrénées. Tome I De la Préhistoire à nos jours. Offert à Jean Clottes, conservateur général honoraire du Patrimoine, Aix-en-Provence : Presses Universitaires de Provence, PréMed, 33-36

Crégut-Bonnoure E., Fernandez Ph., 2018. Perspectives morphométriques et phylogénétiques du genre Capra au Pléistocène (Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Caprinae). É Debard, M. Faure, J. Argant, J.-F. Pastre coord., Vertébrés pléistocènes, hommage à Claude Guérin. Quaternaire, 29 (3) : 243-254

Crégut-Bonnoure E., Ureňa I., 2021. De l’ADN à la morphologie. In Averbouh A., Feruglio V., Plassard F. et Sauvet dir. Bouquetins et Pyrénées. Tome I De la Préhistoire à nos jours. Offert à Jean Clottes, conservateur général honoraire du Patrimoine, Aix-en-Provence : Presses Universitaires de Provence, PréMed, 31

Ureña I., Ersmark, E., Galindo-Pellicena, M.A., Crégut-Bonnoure, E., Samaniego, J.A., Olivencia, A., Rios-Garaizar, J., Garate, D., Gilbert, M.T.P., Arsuaga, J.L., Dalén, L., Valdiosera C., 2017. Unraveling the history of the European wild goats. Quaternary Science Reviews, 185 : 189-198