Snow sheep
The snow sheep (Ovis nivicola), or Siberian bighorn sheep, is a species of sheep 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.
| Snow sheep | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Bovidae |
| Subfamily: | Caprinae |
| Genus: | Ovis |
| Species: | O. nivicola |
| Binomial name | |
| Ovis nivicola Eschscholtz, 1829 | |
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Subspecies
- Kolyma snow sheep, O. n. ssp
- Koryak snow sheep, O. n. koriakorum
- Okhotsk snow sheep, O. n. alleni
- Yakutian snow sheep, O. n. lydekkeri
- Kamchatkan snow sheep, O. n. nivicola
- Putorana snow sheep, O. n. borealis
- Chukotka snow sheep, O. n. tschuktschorum[1]
Taxonomy and genetics
Ovis nivicola appeared about 600,000 years ago. These wild sheep crossed the Bering land bridge from Siberia into Alaska during the Pleistocene (about 750,000 years ago); the sheep diverged into the three extant species. The snow sheep is most closely related to the North American bighorn sheep and Dall sheep.
References
- Harris, R.B. & Tsytsulina. K. (2008). "Ovis nivicola". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T15740A5076357. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T15740A5076357.en. Retrieved 12 January 2018. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern.
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