Mouflon
Mouflon
Conservation status
Vulnerable
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Artiodactyla Family: Bovidae Subfamily: Caprinae Genus: Ovis Species: O. The conservation status of a Species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species remaining extant either in the present day or the near future A vulnerable species is a Species which is likely to become endangered unless the circumstances threatening its survival and reproduction improve Chordates ( Phylum Chordata) are a group of Animals that includes the Vertebrates together with several closely related Invertebrates Mammals ( class Mammalia) are a class of Vertebrate Animals characterized by the presence of Sweat glands, including sweat glands The even-toed ungulates form the Mammal order Artiodactyla. They are Ungulates whose weight is borne (if they have more than two toes about A bovid is any of almost 140 species of Cloven-hoofed Mammals belonging to the family Bovidae. This article refers to the sheep genus For the species commonly referred to simply as "sheep" see Domestic sheep. musimon, O. ammon, O. gmelini or O. orientalis
Binomial name
Ovis musimon, Ovis ammon musimon, Ovis gmelini musumon, Ovis gmelini, Ovis orientalis Pallas, 1762

The Mouflon (Ovis orientalis orientalis^[1] group) is a subpecies group of the wild sheep Ovis orientalis. Peter Simon Pallas ( September 22, 1741, Berlin — September 8, 1811, Berlin) was a German Zoologist Year 1762 ( MDCCLXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year This article refers to the sheep genus For the species commonly referred to simply as "sheep" see Domestic sheep. Populations of Ovis orientails can be partitioned into the Mouflons (orientalis group) and Urials or Arkars (vignei group)^[2]. The Urial ( Ovis orientalis vignei group is a subpecies group of the wild sheep Ovis orientalis.

The Mouflon is thought to be one of the two ancestors for all modern domestic sheep breeds. ^[3][4] It is red-brown with a dark back-stripe, light colored saddle patch and underparts. The males are horned and the females are horned or polled. A horn is a pointed projection of the Skin on the head of various Mammals consisting of a covering of horn ( Keratin and other Proteins Polled livestock (or pollards) are Livestock of normally-horned species that are lacking horns either naturally or as a result of humans removing them Mouflon have a shoulder height of about 90 Centimeter and a body weight of 50 kg (males) and 35 kg (females).

Range

Today the Mouflon occures in the Caucasus, in northern Iraq, and in northwestern Iran. The Caucasus ( also referred to as North Caucasus) is a geopolitical region located between Europe Asia & Middle East For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. Originally the range stretched further to Anatolia, the Krim-peninsula and the Balkan, where it dissapeared already about 3. Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black Crimea (kraɪˈmiːə or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Крим Автономна Республіка Крим Avtonomna Respublika Krym; Крым 000 years ago. Mouflon were introduced to the islands of Corsica, Sardinia, Rhodes, and Cyprus during the neolithic period, perhaps as feral domesticated animals, where they naturalized to the mountainous interiors of these islands over the past few thousand years, giving rise to the species known as European mouflon (O. Corsica (Corse Corsican and Italian: Corsica) is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily Sardinia (sɑrˈdɪnɪə Sardegna Sardigna or Sardinnya is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily) Rhodes (Ρόδος Ródos, ˈɾo̞ðo̞s Rodi ردوس Rodos; Ladino: Rodi or Rodes) is a Greek island Cyprus (Κύπρος transliterated: Kýpros,; Kıbrıs officially the Republic of Cyprus (Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía The Neolithic (from Greek νεολιθικός — neolithikos from νέος neos, "new" + λίθος lithos orientalis musimon). They are now rare on the islands and classified as vulnerable by the IUCN,^[5] but have been successfully introduced into central Europe, including Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania, and even in some northern European countries such as Finland. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands The Czech Republic ( ˈt͡ʃɛskaː ˈrɛpuˌblɪka short form in Česko ˈt͡ʃɛskɔ also called Czechia, Slovakia (long form Slovak Republic; Slovak:, long form, is a Landlocked country in Central Europe with a population of over five million Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian Romania ( dated: Rumania, Roumania Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. Since the 1980s, Mouflons have been introduced successfully in game ranches in North America for the purpose of hunting; however in game ranches pure breeds are rare, as they interbred with other species introduced for the same purpose, like Barbado(s) Sheep, Corsican sheep, Painted Desert Sheep, Texas Dall Sheep or Four Horned Sheep (Jacob's Sheep). The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989.

Subspecies

European Mouflon

The scientific classification of the Mouflon is disputed,^[6]. Five subspecies of Mouflon are distinguished by MSW3^[7]:

• European Mouflon (Ovis orientalis musimon (Pallas, 1811)): About 7. In Zoology, as in other branches of Biology, subspecies is the Taxonomic rank immediately subordinate to a Species. Mammal Species of the World, now in its 3rd edition is a standard reference work in Zoology giving descriptions and bibliographic data for the known species of mammals The mouflon ( Ovis orientalis orientalis group is a subspecies group of the wild sheep Ovis orientalis. 000 years ago the European Mufflon appeared in Corsica and Sardegna for the first time. It has been introduced in many parts of Europe.
• Cyprian Mouflon (Ovis orientalis ophion Blyth, 1841): Cyprian Mouflon was nearly extirpated during the 20th century. In 1997 about 1. 200 of this subspecies were counted.
• Armenian Mouflon (Ovis orientalis orientalis Gmelin, 1774): Caucasus, northwestern Iran and southern Anatolia. The Iranian Red Sheep (Ovis ammon gmelini is also known as Armenian sheep. Scientific nomenclature unclear, sometimes also called gmelini.
• Esfahan Mouflon (Ovis orientalis isphahanica Nasonov, 1910): Zagros Mountains, Iran. The Zagros Mountains (جبال زاجروس (رشته كوههاى زاگرس ( Sorani Kurdish: Zagros - زاگرۆس make up Iran 's and Iraq 's
• Laristan Mouflon (Ovis orientalis laristanica Nasonov, 1909): Small subspecies. Range is restricted to some desert reserves near Lar in southern Iran.
• Domestic Sheep (Ovis orientalis aries Linnaeus, 1758).

A mouflon was cloned successfully in early 2001 and lived at least seven months, making it the first clone of an endangered mammal to survive beyond infancy. ^[8][9] This demonstrates that a common species (in this case, a domestic sheep) can successfully provide a surrogate for the birth of an exotic animal like the mouflon. If cloning of the mouflon can proceed successfully, it has the potential to expand the species' gene pool and reduce strain on the number of living specimens. In Population genetics, a gene pool is the complete set of unique Alleles in a Species or Population.

Trivia

The Mouflon is featured on the symbol of Cyprus Airways, as well as on the 1, 2, and 5 cent Cypriot euro coins. Cyprus Airways Public Ltd (Κυπριακές Αερογραμμές Kipriakes Aerogrammes Turkish Kıbrıs Hava Yolları) is the national Airline Cypriot euro coins feature three separate designs for the three series of coins [1]

Journalist Gregg Easterbrook often refers to the St. Louis Rams as "Les Mouflons" in his "Tuesday Morning Quarterback" columns during the NFL season, because the animal's curved horns are often mistakenly used as a depiction of ram horns. Gregg Edmund Easterbrook (born March 3, 1953) is an American writer lecturer and a senior editor of The New Republic. The St Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St The National Football League ( NFL) is the largest professional American football league.

See also

• Castlemilk Moorit (sheep)

References

• V. The Castlemilk Moorit is a unique extremely rare breed of Domestic sheep originating in Dumfriesshire. G. Heptner: Mammals of the Sowjetunion Vol. I Ungulates. Leiden, New York, 1989 ISBN 9004088741