I was having a conversation with my son the other day about how animals were named.
He had been learning all about different classifications at school, and it had piqued his interest to say the least.
There are so many different ways you can classify a creature, and so many different ways you can name them.
I’m no biologist, but I do know a thing or two about goats—and that, to my pleasure, was where my son’s questioning went next.
One thing he asked was what is the scientific name for a goat.
So, what is the scientific name for a goat?
Domestic goats are referred to as Capra hircus. This is their widely accepted Latin name that is used across the Western world. The full name is Capra aegagrus hircus, of the Capra genus in the Bovidae family. However, ‘goat’ is still technically their scientific name in English.
All animals have a Latin name distinct from the word in each language which refers to the animal.
This is what we may call an animal’s scientific name.
However, we may also talk about broader classifications, and indeed don’t forget that in English, it’s reasonable to say a goat’s scientific name is a goat.
Let’s look further into this.
What is a scientific name?
Firstly, let’s just clear up what we mean by this. in the simplest sense, as I said, an animal’s scientific name is the Latin name that is used to single out a distinct species.
This name applies to every member of that species.
Species gets even more muddled here—there are as many as 26 definitions of what that term means in common use.
However, the important thing for us is just the distinction between scientific name and classification.
The scientific name essentially denotes the most highly specified subgroup of wider categorizations of animals.
Beyond ‘breeds’, such as dwarf goat or Boer goat, you can’t be more specific than Capra aegagrus hircus.
However, you might also think of goats as having many scientific names, further and further subcategorizing it within the animal kingdom.
I’ll get into this more later, but this is another possible meaning of ‘scientific name’.
So all a scientific name does is give the greatest range of specificity in talking about particular creatures.
There can be no confusion, in a scientific setting, about what animal is meant.
Do these names vary by species?
What is the scientific name for a male goat?
The scientific name for a male goat does not change: Capra aegagrus hircus.
There is typically no distinction in nomenclature between males and females of a species.
They both share the same scientific name.
That said, you are also quite likely to find habitual use of sex-specific names in scientific settings—again, it’s all about diminishing the greatest amount of confusion as possible.
So, you might expect to find the term ‘buck’ or ‘wether’ used.
This refers to both a sexually mature and active male and a castrated male, respectively.
However, their actual, scientific names remain the same.
What is the scientific name for a female goat?
Again, it’s the same—capra, for short.
But, again, there are terms for females to distinguish them from males within that—though these will vary by language.
Female goats may be called does or nannies, depending on whether they are rearing kids or not.
Again, though, there’s no scientific difference, and they are only called does and nannies in English.
Other languages have colloquial names, too.
What is the scientific name for a young goat?
Once again, there really isn’t one—from the moment a goat is born until it dies, it is capra.
However, ‘kid’ is the widely used and accepted term for a young goat.
There is, however, nothing scientific about this—whatever that means.
Infant or juvenile would be the term used in a scientific setting, referring specifically to periods in its development.
What is a goat’s categorization?
So, how are goats categorized, then?
Well, they are naturally in the animal kingdom.
Under that is their phylum, Chordata, which includes a great many creatures sharing five essential characteristics.
Under that, their class is Mammalia—mammals, that give birth to and suckle live young and have extensive body hair.
Next is a mouthful—Artiodactyl.
These are what’s called even-toed-ungulates, meaning they equally distribute their weight on two toes on each foot.
Underneath that is Bovidae, grouping goats with other such cloven-hoofed ruminants like deer and bison.
Here, we start to see the real characteristics of goats appear; chewing their cud, regurgitating, and chewing it some more.
This is a common feature of most ruminants.
Next is their subfamily, Caprine.
This includes sheep and goats, distinct from the rest of their ruminant kind by a variety of characteristics, such as body build and overall lifestyle.
They might be resource defenders or grazers.
Finally, Capra is the goat species, and although it includes things like ibex and markhor, this is the closest classification of goats you have outside their particular scientific name.
So, basically, there’s a long answer and a short answer.
When we talk about an animal’s scientific name, we generally just mean the Latin name that is used to be completely clear about which animal you mean in scientific settings.
However, scientists speaking in English would still refer to it simply as a goat.
They wouldn’t use its Latin name every time.
So, just remember that it’s not always entirely clear what we mean by a scientific name.