Sheep
From Freepedia
- 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).
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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.
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.
Species list
There are at least seven species of sheep:
- Argali, Ovis ammon
- Domestic Sheep, O. aries
- Bighorn Sheep, O. canadensis
- Thinhorn Sheep, O. dalli
- Mouflon, O. musimon
- Snow Sheep, O. nivicola
- Urial, O. orientalis
See also
- Aries (astrological sign)
- Blue tongue disease
- Dolly the sheep
- Domestic sheep
- List of sheep breeds
- Scrapie
- Sheep husbandry
