? Bighorn Sheep
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Artiodactyla Family: Bovidae Subfamily: Caprinae Genus: Ovis Species: O. canadensis
Binomial name
Ovis canadensis Shaw, 1804

Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis) are one of two species of mountain sheep in North America; the other species being Ovis dalli, that includes Dall Sheep and Stone's Sheep. The taxononomy continues to be modified as new genetic and morphologic data becomes available but most scientists currently recognize the following subspecies of bighorn (see Wehausen and Ramey 2000, Wehausen et al. 2005): Image File history File links Ovis_canadensis_2. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms (as opposed to folk taxonomy). ... Phyla Subregnum Parazoa Porifera (sponges) Subregnum Agnotozoa Placozoa (trichoplax) Orthonectida (orthonectids) Rhombozoa (dicyemids) Subregnum Eumetazoa Radiata (unranked) (radial symmetry) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria (coral, jellyfish, anemones) Bilateria (unranked) (bilateral symmetry) Acoelomorpha (basal) Orthonectida (parasitic to flatworms, echinoderms, etc. ... Typical Classes Subphylum Urochordata - Tunicatas Ascidiacea Thaliacea Larvacea Subphylum Cephalochordata - Lancelets Subphylum Myxini - Hagfishes Subphylum Vertebrata - Vertebrates Petromyzontida - Lampreys Placodermi (extinct) Chondrichthyes - Cartilaginous fishes Acanthodii (extinct) Actinopterygii - Ray-finned fishes Actinistia - Coelacanths Dipnoi - Lungfishes Amphibia - Amphibians Reptilia - Reptiles Aves - Birds Mammalia - Mammals Chordates (phylum Chordata) include the vertebrates, together with... Orders Subclass Multituberculata (extinct) Plagiaulacida Cimolodonta Subclass Palaeoryctoides (extinct) Subclass Triconodonta (extinct) Subclass Eutheria (includes extinct ancestors)/Placentalia (excludes extinct ancestors) Afrosoricida Artiodactyla Carnivora Cetacea Chiroptera Cimolesta (extinct) Creodonta (extinct) Condylarthra (extinct) Dermoptera Desmostylia (extinct) Dinocerata (extinct) Embrithopoda (extinct) Hyracoidea Insectivora Lagomorpha Litopterna (extinct) Macroscelidea Mesonychia (extinct) Notoungulata (extinct) Perissodactyla... Families Antilocapridae Bovidae Camelidae Cervidae Giraffidae Hippopotamidae Moschidae Suidae Tayassuidae Tragulidae The even-toed ungulates form the mammal order Artiodactyla. ... Subfamilies Bovinae Cephalophinae Hippotraginae Antilopinae Caprinae A bovid is any of almost 140 species of cloven-hoofed mammals belonging to the family Bovidae. ... Genera Capricornis Nemorhaedus Rupicapra Oreamnos Budorcas Ovibos Hemitragus Ammotragus Pseudois Capra Ovis Pantholops A goat antelope is any of the species of mostly medium-sized herbivores that make up the subfamily Caprinae or the single species in subfamily Panthalopinae. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... George Kearsley Shaw. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... Binomial name Ovis dalli Nelson, 1884 The Dall Sheep (originally Dalls Sheep, sometimes called Thinhorn Sheep), Ovis dalli, is a wild sheep of the mountainous regions of northwest North America, ranging from white to slate brown and having curved yellowish brown horns. ...

• Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis)
• Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis sierrae), formerly California Bighorn Sheep,
• Desert Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni)

In addition, there are currently 2 federally endangered populations: Trinomial name Ovis canadensis califoriana The population of California Bighorn Sheep in the Sierra Nevada of California () was listed as an endangered species on January 3, 2000, following emergency listing on April 20, 1999. ... Trinomial name Ovis canadensis nelsoni The Desert Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) is a subspecies of Bighorn Sheep that occurs in the desert Southwest regions of the United States. ...

• Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis sierrae), recognized as a unique subspecies
• Peninsular Bighorn Sheep, a distinct population segment of Desert Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni)

Origin

Wild sheep crossed the Bering land bridge from Siberia during the Pleistocene (~750,000 years ago) and, subsequently, spread through western North America as far south as Baja California and northern mainland Mexico (Cowan 1940). Divergence from their closest Asian ancestor (Snow sheep) occurred about 600,000 years ago (Ramey 1993). In North America, wild sheep have diverged into two extant species -- Dall sheep that occupy Alaska and northwestern Canada, and bighorn sheep that range from southern Canada to Mexico. However, the status of these species is questionable given that hybridization has occurred between them in their recent evolutionary history (Loehr et al. 2005). Nautical chart of Bering Strait, site of former land bridge between Asia and North America The Bering land bridge, also known as Beringia, was a land bridge roughly 1600 km (1000 miles) north to south at its greatest extent, which joined present-day Alaska and eastern Siberia at various times... Siberia is also an album by Echo & The Bunnymen. ... The Pleistocene epoch (pronounced like ply-stow-seen) is part of the geologic timescale. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... Baja California is the northernmost state of Mexico. ... Binomial name Ovis nivicola Eschscholtz, 1829 The snow sheep (Ovis nivicola) is a species of sheep, which comes from the northeast of Siberia. ... Binomial name Ovis dalli Nelson, 1884 The Dall Sheep (originally Dalls Sheep, sometimes called Thinhorn Sheep), Ovis dalli, is a wild sheep of the mountainous regions of northwest North America, ranging from white to slate brown and having curved yellowish brown horns. ...

Mythology

Bighorn sheep were amongst the most admired animals of the Apsaalooka, or Crow, people, and what is today called the Bighorn Mountain Range was central to the Apsaalooka tribal lands. In the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area book, storyteller Old Coyote describes a legend related to the bighorn sheep. A man possessed by evil spirits attempts to kill his heir by pushing the young man over a cliff, but the victim is saved by getting caught in trees. Rescued by bighorn sheep, the man takes the name of their leader, Big Metal. The other sheep grant him power, wisdom, sharp eyes, sure footedness, keen ears, great strength and a strong heart. Big Metal returns to his people with the message that the Apsaalooka people will survive only so long as the river winding out of the mountains is known as the Bighorn River.

Characteristics

Bighorn Sheep

Bighorn Sheep are named for the large, curved horns borne by the males, or rams. Females, or ewes, also have horns, but they are short with only a slight curvature. They range in color from light brown to grayish or dark, chocolate brown, with a white rump and lining on the back of all four legs. Rocky Mountains bighorn females weigh up to 200 pounds (90 kg), and males occasionally exceed 300 pounds (135 kg). In contrast, Sierra Nevada bighorn females weigh about 140 pounds (63 kg) with males weighing around 200 pounds (90 kg). Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... For other types of horns, see horn (disambiguation). ... The shield and spear of the Roman God Mars are often used to represent the male sex In heterogamous species, male is the sex of an organism, or of a part of an organism, which typically produces smaller, mobile gametes (spermatozoa) that are able to fertilise female gametes (ova). ... The mirror of the Roman Goddess Venus is often used to represent the female sex. ... White Goat Wilderness Area, Alberta, Canada Longs Peak of the Rocky Mountains as depicted on the Colorado state quarter The Rocky Mountains, often called the Rockies, are a broad mountain range in western North America. ...

Bighorn sheep graze on grasses and browse shrubby plants, particularly in fall and winter, and seek minerals at natural salt licks. Bighorns are well adapted to climbing steep terrain where they seek cover from predators such as coyotes, eagles, and pumas. They live in large herds, but because they do not have the strict dominance hierarchy of the mouflon, they cannot be domesticated. This is because bighorns do not automatically follow a single leader ram as the Asiatic ancestors of the domestic sheep did and do. Grazing is the regular consumption of part of one organism without killing it by another organism. ... An area of grass-like plants Grass generally describes a monocotyledonous green plant characterized by slender leaves, called blades, which usually grow arching upwards from the ground. ... Divisions Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants Adiantum pedatum (a fern... Minerals are natural compounds formed through geological processes. ... A salt lick is a salt deposit that animals regularly lick. ... This snapping turtle is trying to make a meal of a Canada goose, but the goose is too wary. ... Binomial name Canis latrans Say, 1823 The coyote (Canis latrans, meaning barking dog, also prairie wolf [1]) is a member of the Canidae (dog) family and a relative of the domestic dog. ... Genera Several, see below. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Binomial name Ovis musimon Pallas, 1762 The Mouflon (Ovis musimon), one of the Caprinae or goat antelopes, is thought to be one of the two ancestors for all modern sheep breeds. ... Domesticated animals, plants, and other organisms are those whose collective behavior, life cycle, or physiology has been altered as a result of their breeding and living conditions being under human control for multiple generations. ...

Prior to the mating season or "rut", the rams attempt to establish a dominance hierarchy that determines access to ewes for mating. It is during the prerut period that most of the characteristic horn clashing occurs between rams, although this behavior may occur to a limited extent throughout the year (Valdez and Krausman 1999). Ram's horns can weigh more than 40 pounds (18 kg), and frequently exhibit damage from repeated clashes. Bighorn ewes exhibit a 6 month gestation. In temperate climates, the peak of the rut occurs in November with lambs being born in May.

Bighorn sheep are highly susceptible to certain diseases carried by domestic sheep such as scabies and pneumonia; additional mortality occurs as a result of accidents involving rock fall or falling off cliffs (a hazard of living in steep, rugged terrain). Binomial name Ovis aries Linnaeus, 1758 The domestic sheep (Ovis aries) is the most common species of the sheep genus. ... Pneumonia is an illness of the lungs and respiratory system in which the microscopic, alveoli (air-filled sacs) responsible for absorbing oxygen from the atmosphere become inflamed and flooded with fluid. ...

Scientific Analysis

Bighorn Sheep are considered good indicators of land health because the species is sensitive to many human-induced environmental problems. In addition to their aesthetic value, Bighorn Sheep are considered desirable game animals by hunters. The Rocky Mountain and Sierra Nevada bighorn occupy the cooler mountainous regions of Canada and the United States. In contrast, the Desert Bighorn Sheep subspecies are indigenous to the hot desert ecosystems of the Southwest United States. In biology, a species is the basic unit of biodiversity. ... Trinomial name Homo sapiens sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 Humans, or human beings, are biologically classified as bipedal primates belonging to the mammalian species Homo sapiens (Latin for wise man or thinking man) under the family Hominidae (the great apes). ... Phyla Subregnum Parazoa Porifera (sponges) Subregnum Agnotozoa Placozoa (trichoplax) Orthonectida (orthonectids) Rhombozoa (dicyemids) Subregnum Eumetazoa Radiata (unranked) (radial symmetry) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria (coral, jellyfish, anemones) Bilateria (unranked) (bilateral symmetry) Acoelomorpha (basal) Orthonectida (parasitic to flatworms, echinoderms, etc. ... A hunter on horseback shoots at deer or elk with a bow. ... Rocky Mountain National Park (photo courtesy of NPS) View of Colorado Rockies. ... Desert view in Saudi Arabia. ... In ecology, an ecosystem is a combination of all the living and non-living elements of an area. ... The Southwest region of the United States is drier than the adjoining Midwest in weather; the population is less dense and, with strong Spanish-American and Native American components, more ethnically varied than neighboring areas. ...

In 1940, Cowan taxonomically split the species into seven subspecies [1]: 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ...

• Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Ovis canadensis canadensis. Habitat: from British Columbia to Arizona.
• California Bighorn Sheep Ovis canadensis californiana. Owens defined the habitat from British Columbia down to California and over to North Dakota. The definition of this subspecies has been updated (see below).
• Nelson's Bighorn Sheep Ovis canadensis nelsoni, the most common desert bighorn sheep, ranges from California through Arizona.
• Mexicana Bighorn Sheep Ovis canadensis mexicana, range from Arizona and New Mexico down to Sonora and Chihuahua.
• Peninsular Bighorn Sheep Ovis canadensis cremnobates. Habitat: the Peninsular Ranges of California and Baja California.
• Weems' Bighorn Sheep Ovis canadensis weemsi. Habitat: Baja California.
• Audubon's Bighorn Sheep Ovis canadensis auduboni. Habitat: North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska. Extinct since 1925.

A well-fed Bighorn ram

However, starting in 1993, Ramey and colleagues, using DNA testing, have shown that this division into seven subspecies is largely illusory. The latest science shows that Bighorn Sheep is one species, with 3 subspecies O. c. canadensis, O. c. nelsoni and O. c. sierrae. O. c. sierrae is a genetically distinct subspecies that only occurs in the Sierra Nevada. O. c. nelsoni occur throughout the southwestern desert regions of the U.S. and Mexico, whereas O. c. canadensis occupy the U.S. and Canadian Rocky Mountains and the northwestern U.S. Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Latin: Splendour without diminishment) Official languages none stated in law; English is de facto Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 36 6 Area Total  â€¢ Land  â€¢ Water    (% of total)  Ranked 5th 944,735... Official language(s) None Capital Phoenix Largest city Phoenix Area  Ranked 6th  - Total 113,998 sq. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq. ... Official language(s) English Capital Largest city Bismarck Fargo Area  Ranked 19th  - Total 70,762 sq mi  (183,272 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 340 miles (545 km)  - % water 2. ... Official language(s) None; English and Spanish de facto Capital Largest city Santa Fe Albuquerque Area  Ranked 5th  - Total 121,665 sq. ... Sonora is a state in northwestern Mexico, bordering the states of Chihuahua to the east, Sinaloa to the south, and Baja California to the northwest. ... The state of Chihuahua is the largest of the 31 states of Mexico and is located in the northwestern part of the country. ... The Peninsular Ranges are a group of mountain ranges which stretch 900 miles from southern California to the southern tip of Baja California, part of the North American Coast Ranges that run along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico. ... Baja California is the northernmost state of Mexico. ... 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Download high resolution version (2227x1657, 4475 KB)Bighorn sheep Ø2005 DWindrim File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Download high resolution version (2227x1657, 4475 KB)Bighorn sheep Ø2005 DWindrim File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ...

References

• Ovis canadensis (TSN 180711). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 18 March 2006.
• Cowan, I. McT. (1940) Distribution and variation in the native sheep of North America, American Midland Naturalist 24:505-580.
• Loehr, J., K. Worley, A. Grapputo, J. Carey, A. Veitch and D. W. Coltman. (2005) Evidence for cryptic glacial refugia from North American mountain sheep mitochondrial DNA, Journal of Evolutionary Biology, in press.
• Ramey, R. R. II. (1993) Evolutionary genetics and systematics of North American mountain sheep, Ph.D. Thesis, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
• Valdez, R., and P. R. Krausman. 1999. Mountain Sheep of North America. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
• Wehausen, J. D., and R. R. Ramey II. (1993) A morphometric reevaluation of the Peninsular bighorn subpecies, Trans. Desert Bighorn Council, 37:1-10.
• Wehausen, J. D., V. C. Bleich, and R. R. Ramey II. (2005) Correct nomenclature for Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep. California Fish and Game 91:216-218.
• Description of Bighorn Sheep at Yellowstone Park (public domain source)
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service draft recovery plan for the Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep (public domain source)
• Ovis canadensis

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) is a partnership designed to provide consistent and reliable information on the taxonomy of biological species. ... March 18 is the 77th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (78th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Desert Bighorn Sheep