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Taxonomy
Nilgiritragus hylocrius
Formerly Hemitragus hylocrius [Ogilby, 1838]. Taxonomic Note: Ropiquet and Hassanin (2005) removed the species from the genus Hemitragus, and placed it in the monotypic genus Nilgiritragus, based on analyses of four molecular markers. No subspecies are recognized
Citation: Proceedings of the general meetings for scientific business of the Zoological Society of London.1837 V: 81 Type locality: India, Nilgiri Hills. An extract from the proceedings of the general meetings for scientific business of the Zoological Society of London.1837 V: 81 " Mr Ogily exhibited two specimens of his
new genus kemas, and directed the
attention of the society to their generic and specific characters. Mr Ogily
observed that the genus in question occupied an intermediate station between the
goats and oryges, agreeing with the former in its mountain habitat and general
confirmation, and with the latter in the presence of a small naked muzzle and
four teats in the females. Of the two species exhibited, one was a fine male
specimen of Iharal and the other a new
specimen from Neilgherry hills, known to Kingdom:
Animalia Linnaeus, 1758 - animals Subkingdom:
Bilateria (Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983 - bilaterians, triploblastic
animals Branch:
Deuterostomia Grobben, 1908 - deuterostomes Infrakingdom:
Chordonia (Haeckel, 1874) Cavalier-Smith, 1998 Phylum:
Chordata Bateson, 1885 - chordates Infraphylum:
Gnathostomata auct. - jawed vertebrates Superclass:
Tetrapoda Goodrich, 1930 - tetrapods Class:
Mammalia Linnaeus, 1758 - mammals Subclass:
Theriiformes (Rowe, 1988:245) McKenna & Bell, 1997:vii,36 Infraclass:
Holotheria (Wible et al., 1995) McKenna & Bell, 1997:vii, Superorder:
Preptotheria (McKenna, 1975:41) McKenna in Stucky & McKenna Order:
Ungulata (un-goo-LAH-tuh) (Linnaeus, 1766) McKenna, 1975:41 Suborder:
Ruminantia Scopoli, 1777:493-496 Superfamily:
Bovoidea (Gray, 1821:308) Simpson, 1931:264, 284 Family:
Bovidae Subfamily:
Caprinae Tribe:
Caprini Genus:
Nilgiritragus ( Ropiquet & Hassanin, 2005) Species:
hylocrius (Ogilby, 1838) Scientific
Name:
Nilgiritragus hylocrius (Ropiquet & Hassanin, 2005) It
was after Ropiquet
and Hassanin(2005) carried out
phylogenetic analyses and proposed a
new taxonomy that the genus name was changed to Nilgiritragus from hemitragus. The analyses were carried out on a matrix including most extant
species currently described in the tribe Caprini sensu lato, and 3165 nucleotide
characters, coming from four different markers, i.e., an intron of the nuclear
gene coding for the protein kinase C iota, and three mitochondrial genes
(subunit II of the cytochrome c oxidase, cytochrome b, and 12S
rRNA). The results show that the genus Hemitragus is polyphyletic, as
H. jemlahicus is associated with Capra (goats), H.
hylocrius is the sister-group of Ovis (sheep), and H. jayakari
is allied with Ammotragus lervia (aoudad). In the light of these
unexpected results, Ropiquet and Hassanin revaluated the validity of the morphological
characters originally used for defining the genus Hemitragus. They
have proposed a new taxonomy, where the three species of tahr are ranged
into three monospecific genera: the genus Hemitragus is restricted to the
Himalayan tahr, and two new genera are created: Arabitragus for the
Arabian tahr and Nilgiritragus for the Nilgiri tahr.
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