Functional Morphology of Horns and Hooves of Caucasian Tur (Capra caucasia) and Their Significance in the Process of Adaptation to the Highlands of Shahdag National Park of Azerbaijan

eng Science and Education Publishing American Journal of Zoological Research 2373-6771 2018-07-16 6 1 16 19 10.12691/ajzr-6-1-4 AJZR2018614 article Functional Morphology of Horns and Hooves of Caucasian Tur (Capra caucasia) and Their Significance in the Process of Adaptation to the Highlands of Shahdag National Park of Azerbaijan Najafov J.A. canbaxish@gmail.com 1 Yusufova Kh. J. 2 Baku State University Azerbaijan Medical University Horns and hooves of even-toed animals adapted to the highlands play an irreplaceable role in their life activity. These animals inhabit in extreme situations; any recklessness while rescuing from enemies or moving around, depending on the environmental conditions, can result in death. Thanks to horns and hooves they can orientate and save themselves falling from highlands. So far, the researchers have paid special attention to ecological issues like the structure of tur population, fluctuations in the number of individuals in the population, impact of different factors on fluctuation dynamics in open spaces and reserves [1,2,3]. However, morphological investigation of Caucasian turs' organs and systems which has an adaptive and evolutional significance have not been thoroughly investigated yet. http://pubs.sciepub.com/ajzr/6/1/4/ajzr-6-1-4.pdf Caucasian tur horns hoofs shingles rims corolla wall sole