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The bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) [6] is a species of sheep native to North America. [7] It is named for its large horns.A pair of horns may weigh up to 14 kg (30 lb); [8] the sheep typically weigh up to 143 kg (315 lb). [9]
Female bighorn (ewes) can weigh up to 70 kilograms (155 lb) and have shorter, narrow horns, while male bighorn (rams) can weigh as much as 100 kilograms (220 lb) and have massive, curving horns. [6] The horns of both rams and ewes are composed of a dense layer of keratin covering a core of bone. [ 6 ]
The desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) is a subspecies of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) that is native to the deserts of the United States' intermountain west and southwestern regions, as well as northwestern Mexico.
Bighorn sheep get their name from the large horns atop their head, which curve backwards toward the sheep's body. They can weigh between 140-300 pounds and average about 3–3½ feet tall ...
The desert bighorn sheep were moved from the home where they were raised to their new range on Thursday (5 December) as part of a conservation effort by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
One report on sheep found that 8% of rams exhibited homosexual preferences—that is, even when given a choice, they chose male over female partners. [5] This documented homosexual preference has garnered much discussion. [10] Such rams prefer to court and mount other rams only, even in the presence of estrous ewes. [1]
Female sheep are called ewes, males are called rams or less frequently bucks or tups, neutered males are called wethers, and young sheep are called lambs. The adjective applying to sheep is ovine, and the collective term for sheep is flock or mob. The term herd is also occasionally used in this sense, generally for large flocks.
The ancestral sheep is presumed to have had 60 chromosomes, as in goats (Capra). Mouflon and domestic sheep have 54 chromosomes, with three pairs (1+3, 2+8, 5+11) of ancestral acrocentric chromosomes joined to form bi-armed chromosomes. This is in contrast to the argali and urial, which have 56 and 58 chromosomes respectively.