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A bighorn ram near Jasper, Alberta. Bighorn sheep live in large herds and do not typically follow a single leader ram, unlike the mouflon, the ancestor of the domestic sheep, which has a strict dominance hierarchy. Before the mating season or "rut", the rams attempt to establish a dominance hierarchy to determine access to ewes for mating.
The goat or domestic goat (Capra hircus) is a species of goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (C. aegagrus) of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the family Bovidae, meaning it is closely related to the sheep. It was one of the first animals to be domesticated, in Iran ...
Sheep and goats are closely related: both are in the subfamily Caprinae. However, they are separate species, so hybrids rarely occur and are always infertile. A hybrid of a ewe and a buck (a male goat) is called a sheep-goat hybrid, known as geep. Visual differences between sheep and goats include the beard of goats and divided upper lip of sheep.
A sheep–goat chimera (sometimes called a geep in popular media [13]) is a chimera produced by combining the embryos of a goat and a sheep; the resulting animal has cells of both sheep and goat origin. A sheep–goat chimera should not be confused with a sheep–goat hybrid, which can result when a goat mates with a sheep.
Goat breeds (especially dairy goats) are some of the oldest defined animal breeds for which breed standards and production records have been kept. Selective breeding of goats generally focuses on improving production of fiber, meat, dairy products or goatskin. Breeds are generally classified based on their primary use, though there are several ...
Rams battle to determine the dominant animal, which then gains possession of the ewes. Facing each other, rams charge head-on from distances of 20 ft (6.1 m) or more, crashing their massive horns together with tremendous impact, until one or the other ceases. [8] Desert bighorn sheep live in separate ram and ewe bands most of the year.
Ovis is a genus of mammals, part of the Caprinae subfamily of the ruminant family Bovidae. [1] Its seven highly sociable species are known as sheep or ovines. Domestic sheep are members of the genus, and are thought to be descended from the wild mouflon of central and southwest Asia.
[6] [7] In English, the sign (originally based on a horned animal) may be called either. The interpretation of goat or sheep depends on culture. [1] In Vietnamese, the sign is mùi, which is unambiguously goat. [8] In Japan, on the other hand, the sign is hitsuji, sheep; [8] while in Korea [9] and Mongolia, the sign is ram or sheep.