Himalayan serow
{{Short description|Subspecies of goat-like mammal}}
{{Distinguish|text=the closely related tahrs, especially the Himalayan tahr}}
{{Subspeciesbox
| name = Himalayan serow
| image = Himalayan Serow Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary East Sikkim Sikkim India 13.02.2016.jpg
| image_caption = Male Himalayan serow in Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary, Sikkim, India
| status =
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status2 = CITES_A1
| status2_system = CITES
| genus = Capricornis
| species = sumatraensis
| species_link = Mainland serow
| subspecies = thar
| authority = Hodgson, 1831
}}
The Himalayan serow (Capricornis sumatraensis thar), also known as the thar{{efn|This name has also by confusion been applied to the tahr.}} ({{IPAc-en|θ|ɑːr}} {{respell|THAR}}, {{IPAc-en|t|ɑːr}} {{respell|TAR}}),{{Cite book|title=The Chambers Dictionary|publisher=Chambers|year=2003|isbn=0-550-10105-5|edition=9th|chapter=thar}}{{Cite book|title=Collins English Dictionary|publisher=HarperCollins|year=2018|isbn=978-0-008-28437-4|edition=13th|chapter=thar}} is a subspecies of the mainland serow{{cite journal |author1=Mori, E. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Nerva, L. |author3=Lovari, S. |year=2019 |title=Reclassification of the serows and gorals: the end of a neverending story? |journal=Mammal Review |volume=49 |issue=3 |pages=256–262 |doi=10.1111/mam.12154|s2cid=155777271 }} native to the Himalayas.{{cite iucn |author=Phan, T.D. |author2=Nijhawan, S. |author3=Li, S. |author4=Xiao, L. |name-list-style=amp |title=Capricornis sumatraensis |date=2020 |page=e.T162916735A162916910 |access-date=16 January 2022}} It was previously considered its own species, as Capricornis thar. It is the official state animal of the Indian state of Mizoram.
Taxonomy
In 1831, Brian Houghton Hodgson first described a goat-like animal with short annulated horns occurring in montane regions between the Sutlej and Teesta Rivers under the name "Bubaline Antelope".{{cite journal |author=Hodgson, B.H. |year=1831 |title=On the Bubaline Antelope. (Nobis.) |journal=Gleanings in Science |volume=3 |issue=April |pages=122–123 |url=https://archive.org/details/proceedingsofzoo01zool/page/12/mode/2up}} As "Bubaline" was preoccupied, he gave it the scientific name Antelope thar a few months later.{{cite journal |author=Hodgson, B.H. |year=1831 |title=Contributions in Natural History |journal=Gleanings in Science |volume=3 |issue=October |pages=320–324 |url=https://archive.org/details/gleaningsscienc3/page/324/mode/2up}}
When William Ogilby described the genus Capricornis in 1838, he determined the Himalayan serow as type species of this genus.{{cite journal |author=Ogilby, W. |year=1836 |title=On the generic characters of Ruminants |journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London |volume=8 |pages=131–140 |url=https://archive.org/details/proceedingsofgen36zool/page/n151/mode/2up}}
Description
The Himalayan serow is mostly blackish, with flanks, hindquarters, and upper legs that are a rusty red; its lower legs are whitish.{{cn|date=January 2021}}
Distribution and habitat
The Himalayan serow inhabits hilly forests above an elevation of {{cvt|300|m}}, but descends to {{cvt|100|m}} in winter.{{cite journal |author=Choudhury, A. |year=2003 |title=Status of serow (Capricornis sumatraensis) in Assam |journal=Tigerpaper |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=1–2 |url=https://www.fao.org/3/ak877e/ak877e.pdf}} It prefers elevations of {{cvt|2500-3500|m}} in the Himalayas.{{cite journal |author=Aryal, A. |year=2009 |title=Habitat ecology of Himalayan serow (Capricornis sumatraensis ssp. thar) in Annapurna Conservation Area of Nepal |journal=Tigerpaper |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=12–20 |url=https://www.fao.org/3/ak851e/ak851e00.pdf#page=14}}
Conservation
Capricornis sumatraensis is listed in CITES Appendix I.
Notes
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References
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{{Taxonbar|from=Q1619009}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:serow, Himalayan}}
Category:Fauna of Eastern Himalaya
Category:Taxa named by Brian Houghton Hodgson
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