Breeds

Here is a good site listing different breeds of domestic goats:

http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/goats/

A breed is differently than a species (a scientifically recognized classification.) A breed is created by humans and must have a specifically designed program for breeding and standards that define it. A goat has to be of a certain breed to participate in most shows and be registered with an official association.

There are such things as subspecies to be found in the wild - for instance, there are between four and nine subspecies of giraffes. It turns out that taxonomy - scientific classification - is not as hard and fast as we were taught in science class. Zoologists and biologists are constantly switching animals from one scientific grouping to another as science find new ways to compare members of groups (such as DNA.)

The bezoar is the wild ibex apparent beginning of all modern goat breeds. Strangely enough, a bezoar is also a technical name for a hairball.

Goat Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Bovidae
Subfamily:	Caprinae
Genus:	Capra
Species:	C. aegagrus

Anyway, my favorite goat breeds are nubian (floppy eared cuties) and la mancha (no eared). However, if and when I get a farm, I may concentrate more on high-performing individual animals of any breed, or mixed breed, over anything else.