Bighorn sheep

This article is about the animal. For other uses, see Big Horn (disambiguation).

Bighorn sheep
Temporal range: 0.7–0 Ma
↓
Middle Pleistocene – recent
Male (ram), Wheeler Peak, New Mexico
Female (ewe), Greater Vancouver Zoo
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[2][note 1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Caprinae
Tribe: Caprini
Genus: Ovis
Species:
O. canadensis
Binomial name
Ovis canadensis
Shaw, 1804
Bighorn sheep range[3][4]
Synonyms

O. cervina Desmarest
O. montana Cuvier[5]

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] Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspecies of Ovis canadensis, one of which is endangered: O. c. sierrae.

Sheep originally crossed to North America over the Bering Land Bridge from Siberia; the population in North America peaked in the millions, and the bighorn sheep entered into the mythology of Native Americans. By 1900, the population had crashed to several thousand due to diseases introduced through European livestock and overhunting.[10]

  1. ^ Festa-Bianchet, M. (2020). "Ovis canadensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T15735A22146699. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T15735A22146699.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  3. ^ "Ovis canadensis". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). 2008. Version 2016-2. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  4. ^ Hastings, D; Dunbar, PK (1999). Global Land One-kilometer Base Elevation (GLOBE) (Map). 1. National Geophysical Data Center. NOAA. doi:10.7289/V52R3PMS. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  5. ^ Allen, JA (1912). "Historical and nomenclatorial notes on North American sheep". Bulletin of the AMNH. 31. hdl:2246/1793. article 1.
  6. ^ "Ovis canadensis". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 18 March 2006.
  7. ^ Grubb, P. (2005). Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-8221-4. OCLC 62265494.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference diversity was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference eNature was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Yoshida, Kate (January 6, 2014). "A Symbol of the Range Returns Home". New York Times.


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