| Stone sheep | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Bovidae |
| Subfamily: | Caprinae |
| Genus: | Ovis |
| Species: | O. dalli stonei |
| Binomial name | |
| Ovis dalli stonei | |
Thestone sheep is a subspecies ofthinhorn sheep.[1] Almost all stone sheep live inBritish Columbia inCanada.[2][3][4][5]
This sheep is larger than its relative, theDall sheep. The adult male stone sheep can weigh 180 to 220 lbs (82 to 100 kg). The adult female sheep are smaller. Unlike Dall sheep, stone sheep do not have bright white fur. Instead, they are gray, brown, or black. Lighter stone sheep are sometimes calledFannin sheep.[1] Some scientists think Fannin sheep are a separate subspecies of thinhorn sheep and other scientists do not.[2]
Stone sheep have horns with different shapes, but female stone sheep have thinner horns than male stone sheep.[1] The horns are darker in color than the horns of Dall sheep.[3]
The face, backs of the legs and the rear end usually have white fur on them. The tail is usually black with some black fur on the back.[1]
There are about 12,000 to 15,000 stone sheep in the world. Most of them live inBritish Columbia inCanada.[3] They like to live on steep mountains. They move around. They go to low meadows to eat plants and then go back to high, rocky places where it is difficult for other animals to catch them.[1]
Thinhorn sheep andsnow sheep became twoseparate species around the time the last ice age ended, 10,000 to 18,000 years ago. After that, the thinhorn sheep moved east and spread out. The Dall sheep and stone sheep became separate subspecies some time after that.[3]