AnAge entry for Capra hircus
Classification (HAGRID: 01920)
- Taxonomy
-
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia (Taxon entry)
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Genus: Capra
- Species
- Capra hircus
- Common name
- Domestic goat
Lifespan, ageing, and relevant traits
- Maximum longevity
- 20.8 years (captivity)
- Source
- ref. 671
- Sample size
- Large
- Data quality
- High
- Observations
One animal is reported to have lived 22 years in captivity [0511], which is plausible but unverified. Record longevity in captivity belongs to one female who lived 20.8 years [0671].
It is possible that these animals may live for longer, but they are culled before reaching their maximum lifespan, due to issues in the nervous, digestive and reproductive systems, and lameness [1389].
A study comparing goat and 7 other species concluded that the rate of telomere shortening was a strong predictor of lifespan, unlike telomere length [1356].
Life history traits (averages)
- Female sexual maturity
- 406 days
- Male sexual maturity
- 685 days
- Gestation
- 155 days
- Weaning
- Litter size
- 1.5 (viviparous)
- Litters per year
- 1
- Inter-litter interval
- 451 days
- Weight at birth
- 2,250 g
- Weight at weaning
- Adult weight
- 61,000 g
- Postnatal growth rate
- 0.0041 days-1 (from Gompertz function)
- Maximum longevity residual
- 78%
Metabolism
- Typical body temperature
- 312ºK or 39.3ºC or 102.7ºF
- Basal metabolic rate
- Not yet available
References
- [1389] Hoffman and Valencak (2020), A short life on the farm: aging and longevity in agricultural, large-bodied mammals (PubMed)
- [1356] Whittemore et al. (2019), Telomere shortening rate predicts species life span (PubMed)
- [1135] Lemaitre et al. (2013), Comparing free-ranging and captive populations reveals intra-specific variation in aging rates in large herbivores (PubMed)
- [0951] Jurado et al. (2008), Irregular tooth wear and longevity in captive wild ruminants: a pilot survey of necropsy reports (PubMed)
- [1022] Fick et al. (2007), Long-acting neuroleptics used in wildlife management do not impair thermoregulation or physical activity in goats (Capra hircus) (PubMed)
- [0671] Richard Weigl (2005), Longevity of Mammals in Captivity; from the Living Collections of the World
- [0610] Ernest (2003), Life history characteristics of placental non-volant mammals
- [0133] Boos and Bartels (2002), Ontogeny and occurrence of the corpus fibulae in the domesticated goat (Capra aegagrus f. hircus) (PubMed)
- [0434] Ronald Nowak (1999), Walker's Mammals of the World
- [0677] Saether and Gordon (1994), The adaptive significance of reproductive strategies in ungulates (PubMed)
- [0455] Virginia Hayssen et al. (1993), Asdell's Patterns of Mammalian Reproduction: A Compendium of Species-Specific Data
- [0731] Zullinger et al. (1984), Fitting sigmoid equations to mammalian growth curves
- [0511] Ronald Nowak and John Paradiso (1983), Walker's Mammals of the World
External Resources
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System
- ITIS 180715
- Animal Diversity Web
- ADW account (if available)
- Encyclopaedia of Life
- Search EOL
- NCBI Taxonomy
- Taxonomy ID 9925
- Entrez
- Search all databases
- Ageing Literature
- Search Google Scholar or Search PubMed
- Images
- Google Image search
- Internet
- Search Google