This article refers to the sheep genus. For the domesticated species which is used for wool and meat production in farming enterprises, see Domestic sheep. For other uses, see Sheep (disambiguation). ? Sheep Bighorn Sheep Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Artiodactyla Family: Bovidae Subfamily: Caprinae Genus: Ovis Linnaeus, 1758 Species See text A Sheep is a mammal, one of several woolly ruminant quadrupeds in the genus Ovis. The domestic sheep is thought to be descended from the wild moufflon of south-central and south-west Asia. A male sheep is a ram, a female a ewe, and a young sheep a lamb. Sheep meat is called mutton or simply lamb. Sheep are usually stockier than their goat relatives, and some have horns which are more more divergent than those of goats. Sheep have scent glands on the face and hind feet. Communication through the scent glands is not well understood but is thought to be important for sexual signaling. Males can smell females which are fertile and ready to mate, and rams mark their territories by rubbing scent on to rocks. Sheep are highly gregarious bovids (members of the family Bovidae) and ruminants, meaning they chew cud. They have a four chambered stomach which plays a vital role in digesting, reguritating and re-digesting food. For related species, see goat antelope. Contents 1 Sheep species 2 Domestic sheep 3 Hybrids with goats 4 See also Sheep species There are at least eight species of sheep: Ovis ammon Argali O. aries Domestic Sheep O. canadensis Bighorn Sheep O. dalli Thinhorn Sheep O. musimon Mouflon (disputed scientific classification) O. nivicola Snow Sheep O. orientalis Urial (disputed scientific classification) O. vignei Domestic sheep Main article: Domestic sheep The domestic sheep (Ovis aries) is the most common species of sheep. As such it is a woolly ruminant quadruped which probably descends from the wild moufflon of south-central and south-west Asia. Sheep are principally husbanded for their wool, meat and milk. There are many breeds of sheep and these are generally sub-classable as: wool breeds, meat breeds, and dual-use breeds. Farmers develop wool breeds for superior wool quantity and quality and meat breeds for their fast growth, multiple births, ease of lambing, and hardiness. Hybrids with goats Although sheep and goats seem similar and can be mated together they belong to different genera. Goats are caprinae and have 60 chromosomes while sheep are ovinae and have 54v chromosomes. This mismatch of chromosomes means any offspring of a sheep-goat pairing is generally stillborn (the famous geep is a chimera, not a hybrid). At Botswana Ministry of Agriculture, a ram that was kept with a nanny goat impregnated the goat resulting in a live offspring that had 57 chromosomes. This was called "The Toast of Batswana". The hybrid is intermediate between the two parent species in type. It has a coarse outer coat, awoolly inner coat, long goat-like legs and a heavy sheep-like body. Although infertile, the Toast of Batswana was castrated to prevent unwanted sexual behaviour because it continually mounted the sheep and goats sharing its enclosure. In 1969, Australian farmer Dick Lanyon, who farmed near Melbourne, Australia, kept a billy-goat among his sheep to scare off foxes during the lambing season. In September of the same year, he claimed to have dozens of ‘lambs’ which were sheep-goat hybrids. The goat was locked up while scientists examined the supposed hybrids. As no more was heard of this case, it is believed that the lambs were pure-bred sheep. There is a long-standing belief in sheep/goat hybrids which is due to the animals' resemblance to each other. Some primitive varieties of sheep may be misidentified as goats. In "Darwinism An Exposition Of The Theory Of Natural Selection With Some Of Its Applications" (1889), Alfred Russel Wallace wrote: [...] the following statement of Mr. Low: "It has been long known to shepherds, though questioned by naturalists, that the progeny of the cross between the sheep and goat is fertile. Breeds of this mixed race are numerous in the north of Europe." Nothing appears to be known of such hybrids either in Scandinavia or in Italy; but Professor Giglioli of Florence has kindly given me some useful references to works in which they are described. The following extract from his letter is very interesting: "I need not tell you that there being such hybrids is now generally accepted as a fact. Buffon (Supplements, tom. iii. p. 7, 1756) obtained one such hybrid in 1751 and eight in 1752. Sanson (La Culture, vol. vi. p. 372, 1865) mentions a case observed in the Vosges, France. Geoff. St. Hilaire (Hist. Nat. Gén. des reg. org., vol. iii. p. 163) was the first to mention, I believe, that in different parts of South America the ram is more usually crossed with the she-goat than the sheep with the he-goat. The well-known 'pellones' of Chile are produced by the second an third generation of such hybrids (Gay, 'Hist, de Chile,' vol. i. p. 466, Agriculture, 1862). Hybrids bred from goat and sheep are called 'chabin' in French, and 'cabruno' in Spanish. In Chile such hybrids are called 'carneros lanudos'; their breeding inter se appears to be not always successful, and often the original cross has to be recommenced to obtain the proportion of three-eighths of he-goat and five-eighths of sheep, or of three-eighths of ram and five-eighths of she-goat; such being the reputed best hybrids." See also Aries (astrological sign) Barbary Sheep (Ammotragus lervia) Blue tongue disease Dolly the sheep Domestic sheep List of domestic sheep breeds Scrapie Sheep husbandry Woolang:Scéap ast:Oveya bg:Овце bo:ལུག cy:Dafad da:Får de:Schafe eo:Ŝafo es:Oveja fi:Lammas fr:Mouton he:כבש Search Term: "Sheep" Categories: Sheep