The Caprinae diverged from the other Aegodontia in the early Miocene, appearing in the Eurasian fossil record 18-15 million years ago. The Caprinae were excluded from the Eurasian lowland habitats by the dominant Cervidae (deer), but were able to fill a specific niche in alpine habitats. The prevalence of mountains throughout Europe and Asia provided the perfect setting for the rapid evolution of the Caprinae during the late Miocene. The lack of alpine habitat in Africa (and the abundance of mountains in Eurasia) explains why this is the only bovid subfamily to be significantly more diverse in Eurasia than Africa.

Despite being nested deeply within the Aegodontia, the Caprinae is the only subfamily which is not seen as containing "antelope" (with the exception of the chiru or Tibetan antelope, Pantholops hodgsonii); in an attempt to correct this, some authors chose to describe the members of this subfamily as "goat antelope".

There are four currently recognized tribes in this subfamily:

1. Pantholopini - chiru
2. Ovibovini - musk ox and takin
3. Rupicaprini - gorals, serows, and chamois
4. Caprini - sheep, goats, and tahrs

The position of the chiru (Pantholops hodgsonii) has only recently been resolved. Formerly, this species was thought to ally closely with the saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica) in the tribe Saigini, forming a putative link between gazelles (Antilopinae) and goats (Caprinae). However, molecular testing has determined that Saiga is distinctly antelopine, while Pantholops is distinctly goat-like. Some authors consider the chiru to be distinct enough to warrant placing it in a separate subfamily, the Pantholopinae.

Generally both sexes of the Caprinae bear horns (except in the tribe Pantholopini, where they are only found in males). There is extreme sexual dimorphism in the Caprini - this is especially prevalent in the size and shape of the horns. The other tribes show very few differences between the sexes with regard to size, coloration, and horn size.