Comparative Biology: Small Ruminants, Camelids, Sugar Gliders, and Equine Science

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the anatomy, reproduction, terminology, diseases, behavior, and management of goats, camelids, sugar gliders, and equines.

Mohair

A long, silky textile fiber produced specifically by the Angora goat.

Cashmere

The fine, soft underdown fiber produced by cashmere goats underneath their outer coat.

Myotonia congenita

A hereditary condition found in fainting goats causing voluntary muscles to temporarily stiffen and lock up when the animal is startled or excited.

Wether

A castrated male goat.

Cria

A juvenile or baby llama or alpaca.

Rumen

The large microbial fermentation compartment of a ruminant's stomach where microorganisms break down complex cellulose from forages such as grass and leaves.

Kush

The sternal recumbent sitting posture assumed by a female camelid (llama or alpaca) before and during mating.

Short Day Breeder

An animal (such as a goat) in which reproductive cycling and estrus are stimulated by a decreasing photoperiod.

Berserk Male Syndrome

An abnormal behavioral condition occurring in camelids that were overly imprinted by humans as youngsters, leading to aggressive dominance attacks—including chest ramming, biting, screaming, and charging—during breeding season.

Fighting teeth

Specialized, sharp modified canines and incisors in male camelids used to inflict injury on rivals during dominance battles.

Patagium

The specialized gliding membrane of skin extending from the forepaws to the ankles of a sugar glider.

Joey

The name for an infant marsupial, such as a baby sugar glider that emerges underdeveloped after a $16\text{-day}$ gestation to nurse in the maternal pouch for approximately $10\text{ weeks}$.

Equus

The modern genus of horses, which evolved over a period of $55\text{ million years}$ through ancestors including Eohippus, Mesohippus, Merychippus, and Pliohippus.

Hand (Equine Unit)

A standard unit of measurement used to quantify horse height from the ground to the withers, equal to exactly $4\text{ inches}$.

Pony

An equine measuring less than $14.2\text{ hands}$ ($< 58\text{ inches}$) at the withers.

Mule

An equine hybrid produced by breeding a male donkey ($2n = 62$) to a female horse ($2n = 64$).

Hinny

An equine hybrid produced by breeding a male horse (stallion) to a female donkey (jenny).

Coldblood (Draft Horse)

A group of large, heavy-boned, heavily muscled equines with calm temperaments and slow metabolisms developed for heavy agricultural and pulling labor, such as the Belgian, Clydesdale, Percheron, and Shire.

Hotblood

A category of refined, light-boned, and narrow-framed horses with fast metabolisms and reactive temperaments bred for speed and endurance, including the Arabian and Thoroughbred.

Warmblood

An athletic equine type exhibiting a balanced temperament and a build intermediate between drafts and hotbloods, bred primarily for disciplines like show jumping and dressage.

Hindgut Fermenter

A monogastric herbivore (such as the horse) that digests concentrates and simple nutrients in the foregut but relies on an enlarged cecum and large colon for microbial fermentation of roughages.

Equine Field of Vision

A nearly panoramic visual pattern combining lateral monocular visual fields with a narrow binocular field in front and blind spots directly behind the hindquarters and directly beneath the muzzle.

Stay Apparatus

An anatomical arrangement of muscles, ligaments, and tendons in the equine limbs that locks joints and allows horses to rest standing upright with minimal muscular energy.

Precocial

Offspring born in a well-developed physiological state capable of moving independently shortly after birth, such as foals standing within $60\text{ minutes}$.

Colic

A term designating abdominal or gastrointestinal pain in horses, representing the leading cause of equine mortality.

Laminitis

A painful inflammation and disruption of blood flow within the lamina of the equine hoof wall, often triggered by endocrine or metabolic conditions and leading to a rocked-back stance.

Choke (Equine)

An obstruction of the horse's esophagus (not the trachea) by impacted feed or forage, typically resulting in coughing, neck extension, and saliva mixed with food flowing from the nostrils.

Dental Floating

The routine maintenance procedure of rasping or filing down sharp enamel points and hooks that form along the continuously erupting cheek teeth of a horse.