Marco Polo sheep

Marco Polo sheep
An old engraved print of a sheep with very large curved horns, pictured in profile. The wool is short and the color of the abdomen and head are darker than the legs and neck.
Engraving of a Marco Polo sheep, c. 1883
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[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. ammon
Subspecies:
O. a. polii
Trinomial name
Ovis ammon polii
Blyth, 1841[2]
Synonyms[3]

Ovis ammon poli
Ovis ammon poloi
Ovis ammon sculptorium
Ovis ammon typica
Ovis poli

The Marco Polo sheep (Ovis ammon polii) is a subspecies of argali sheep, named after Marco Polo. Their habitat are the mountainous regions of Central Asia. Marco Polo sheep are distinguishable mostly by their large size and spiraling horns. Their conservation status is "near threatened" and efforts have been made to protect their numbers and keep them from being hunted. It has also been suggested that crossing them with domestic sheep could have agricultural benefits.


Cite error: There are <ref group=Note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=Note}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  2. ^ Wilson & Reeder 2005
  3. ^ Fedosenko & Blank 2005, p. 2