Snow sheep

Snow sheep
Snow sheep
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Genus: Ovis
Species: O. nivicola
Binomial name
Ovis nivicola
Eschscholtz, 1829

The snow sheep (Ovis nivicola), or Siberian bighorn sheep, is a species of sheep, which comes from the mountainous areas in the northeast of Siberia. One subspecies, the Putorana Snow Sheep (Ovis nivicola borealis) lives isolated from the other forms in the Putoran mountains. The snow sheep is related to the North American Bighorn Sheep and Dall's Sheep, and some zoologists consider it a subspecies of this sheep.

Subspecies

  • Kolyma Snow Sheep, (Ovis nivicola ssp)
  • Koryak Snow Sheep, (Ovis nivicola koriakorum)
  • Okhotsk Snow Sheep, (Ovis nivicola alleni)
  • Yakutia Snow Sheep, (Ovis nivicola lydekkeri)
  • Kamchatka Snow Sheep, (Ovis nivicola nivicola)
  • Putorana Snow Sheep, (Ovis nivicola borealis)
  • Chukotka Snow Sheep, (Ovis nivicola ssp)

References

  1. ^ Harris, R.B. & Tsytsulina. K. (2008). Ovis nivicola. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 5 April 2009. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern.
This article incorporates information from the German Wikipedia.