Pyrenean ibex

The Pyrenean ibex (Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica), Aragonese and Spanish common name bucardo, Catalan common name herc and French common name bouquetin was one of the four subspecies of the Iberian ibex or Iberian wild goat, a species endemic to the Pyrenees. Pyrenean ibex were most common in the Cantabrian Mountains, Southern France, and the northern Pyrenees. This species was common during the Holocene and Upper Pleistocene, during which their morphology, primarily some skulls, of the Pyrenean ibex was found to be larger than other Capra subspecies in southwestern Europe from the same time. In January 2000, the Pyrenean ibex became extinct. Other subspecies have survived: the western Spanish or Gredos ibex and the southeastern Spanish or beceite ibex, while the Portuguese ibex had already become extinct. Since the last of the Pyrenean ibex became extinct before scientists could adequately analyze them, the taxonomy of this particular subspecies is controversial. Following several failed attempts to revive the subspecies through cloning, a living specimen was born in July 2003; however, it died several minutes after birth due to a lung defect. Multiple theories are given regarding the evolution and historical migration of C. pyrenaica into the Iberian Peninsula, and the relationship between the different subspecies. One possibility is that C. pyrenaica evolved from an ancestor related to C. caucasica from the Middle East, at the beginning of the last glacial period (120–80 ky). C. pyrenaica probably moved from the northern Alps through southern France into the Pyrenees area at the beginning of Magdalenian period about 18 kya. If this is the case, then C. caucasica praepyrenaica may have been more different from the other three ibex species that lived in the Iberian Peninsula than scientists currently know. For example, this would mean that the C. pyrenaica (possible migration 18ky) and C. ibex (300 ky earlier migration) would have evolved from different ancestors and been morphologically more different from their separate genes. It is known that all four subspecies lived together in the Upper Pleistocene time, but scientists are unsure of how much genetic exchange could have occurred. The problem with this theory is that genetics suggest that C. pyrenaica and C. ibex may have shared a more common origin, possibly C. camburgensis. Many versions of when C. pyrenaica or C. ibex first migrated to and evolved in the Iberian Peninsula are related. C. pyrenaica possibly was already living in the Iberian Peninsula when the ibex began to migrate through the Alps. Genetic evidence also supports the theory that multiple Capra subspecies migrated to the Iberian region around the same time. Hybridization may have been possible, but the results are not conclusive. The Pyrenean ibex had short hair which varied according to seasons. During the summer, its hair was short, and in winter, the hair grew longer and thicker. The hair on the ibex's neck remained long through all seasons. Male and female ibex could be distinguished due to color, fur, and horn differences. The male was a faded grayish brown during the summer, and they were decorated with black in several places on the body such as the mane, forelegs, and forehead. In the winter, the ibex was less colorful. The male transformed from a greyish brown to a dull grey and where the spots were once black, it became dull and faded. The female ibex, though, could be mistaken for a deer since its coat was brown throughout the summer. Unlike the male ibex, a female lacked black coloring. Young ibex were colored like the female for the first year of life. The male had large, thick horns, curving outwards and backwards, then outwards and downwards, then inwards and upwards. The surface of the horn was ridged, and the ridges developing progressively with age. The ridges were said to each represent a year, so the total would correspond to the ibex's age. The female had short, cylindrical horns. Ibex fed on vegetation such as grasses and herbs.