Argali
Argali | |
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A flock of wild Argali | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Family: | Bovidae |
Subfamily: | Caprinae |
Tribe: | Caprini
|
Genus: | Ovis |
Species: | O. ammon
|
Binomial name | |
Ovis ammon | |
Range of the argali subspecies | |
Synonyms | |
Capra ammon Linnaeus, 1758 |
The argali (Ovis ammon), also known as the mountain sheep, is a wild sheep that roams the highlands of western East Asia, the Himalayas, Tibet, and the Altai Mountains.
Description
The name 'argali' is the Mongolian word for wild sheep.[2] It is the largest species of wild sheep. Argali stand 85 to 135 cm (3 to 4 ft) high at the shoulder and measure 136 to 200 cm (4 to 7 ft) long from the head to the base of the tail. The female, or ewe is the smaller sex by a considerable margin, sometimes weighing less than half as much as the male, or ram. The ewes can weigh from 43.2 to 100 kg (95 to 220 lb) and the rams typically from 97 to 328 kg (214 to 723 lb), with a maximum reported mass of 356 kg (785 lb). The Pamir argali (also called Marco Polo sheep, for they were first described by that traveler), O. a. polii, is the largest race on average, regularly measuring more than 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) long without the tail, and is less sexually dimorphic in body mass than most other subspecies. The argali has relatively the shortest tail of any wild goat-antelope or sheep, with reported tail lengths of 9.5–17 cm (3.7–6.7 in).
The general coloration varies between each animal, from a light yellow to a reddish-brown to a dark grey-brown. Argali or nyan from the Himalayas are usually relatively dark, whereas those from Russian ranges are often relatively pale. In summertime, the coat is often lightly spotted with a salt-and-pepper pattern. The back is darker than the sides, which gradually lighten in color. The face, tail and the buttocks are yellowish-white. The male has a whitish neck ruff and a dorsal crest and is usually slightly darker in color than the female. Males have two large corkscrew shaped horns, some measuring 190 cm (6 ft 3 in) in total length and weighing up to 23 kg (51 lb). Males use their horns for competing with one another. Females also carry horns, but they are much smaller, usually measuring less than 60 cm (24 in) in total length.
Subspecies and classification
Currently, 9 subspecies of argali are recognized:[3]
- Altai argali (O. a. ammon) Mainly found in the Altai Mountains of western Mongolia. Range extends marginally north into the Gorno-Altai and Tuva republics of Siberian Russia, extreme northeast Kazakhstan, and southwest into Xinjiang,China.
- Karaganda argali (O. a. collium) Native to the Karaganda region of east and central Kazakhstan.
- Gobi argali (O. a. darwini) Found in northern China and southern Mongolia.
- Tibetan argali (O. a. hodgsoni) Range spread across Bhutan, China, India, and Nepal.
- North China argali (O. a. jubata) Restricted to northeast China.
- Tian Shan argali (O. a. karelini) Native to the Tian Shan Mountains of eastern
Kyrgyzstan.
- Kara Tau argali (O. a. nigrimontana) Only found in the Karatau Mountains of Kazakhstan.
- Marco Polo argali (O. a. polii) Range extends across Afghanistan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan.
- Severtzov argali (O. a. severtzovi) Native to Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Regionally extinct in Kazakhstan.
Some sources classify
Range and habitat
Argali range from central Kazakhstan in the west to the Shanxi Province in China in the east and from the Altai Mountains in the north to the Himalayas to the south. They are a species of mountainous areas, living from elevations of 300 to 5,800 m (980 to 19,030 ft). In protected areas, the species generally prefers gently sloping areas with soft broken terrain, although ewes with lambs often take up residence in more precipitous areas, characterized by canyons and jagged rocks. In areas where they are extensively hunted (such as Kazakhstan), they are more likely to be found in forested areas. In parts of China and Russia where they compete for resources with numerous domestic stock, argali more regularly take up residence in precipitous, jagged areas. Argali may search for regions in the mountains where snow cover is not heavy during the winter, following winds that blow snow off the earth. Rams are generally found at higher elevations more regularly than females and stay at higher elevations longer during the winter.[3]
Life history
Argalis live in herds typically numbering between two and 150 animals, segregated by sex, except during breeding season. Most populations show large numbers of adult females, constituting more than half of a local population, against around 20% adult males and a further 20% young argali. Some rams are solitary, but most are seen in small herds numbering between three and 30 individuals. Females and their young live in larger groups, regularly up to 92 individuals and exceptionally to 200 animals. Migrating herds, especially males, have been reported. Most migration appear to be related to seasonally decreased food sources, though an overabundance of biting insects (especially
Argali reach breeding maturity at two to three years of age. Rutting may occur from October to mid-January, generally lasting longer in lower elevations. In rutting herds, both rams and ewes attack others of their own sex, exerting dominance by ramming each other with their horns. Although such groups engage in lamb-like play, the combat of a pair of mature males is a serious business. The rams slam into each other, with their fore legs up in the air, exerting enough force to be heard up to 800 m (2,600 ft) away. Often, the older males (over six years of age), which are also often the largest, end up the dominant ones and younger males are chased off once the ewes are in
The gestation period lasts a little over 165 days. Births occur in late March or April, with a variable number of females being barren. Most subspecies give birth to a single lamb, though in some races, twins are not uncommon and even as many as five have been born at once. At birth, the lambs weigh 2.7–4.6 kg (6–10 lb). The newborn lamb and mother ewe stay around where the birth occurs overnight and, on the next day, both usually walk together. Lambs often play in groups, jumping up and down together, sometimes being joined by their mothers. Weight gain is often quite fast and the lambs may weigh 10 times their birth weight by their first birthday. Females often attain their maximum mass by two years of age, but males appear to continue to grow larger and heavier in their third and fourth years. Milk teeth develop around three months of age, with a full set of teeth developing by around six months. By the time their teeth develop, lambs are capable grazers, but the ewes continue nursing them from August to May of the following year. Most argali live five to 10 years, but are capable of living 13 years in the wild.[3]
Adult argali eat 16–19 kg (35–42 lb) of food a day. The vegetation preferred by the species varies based on elevation and area. In higher elevations, they predominantly eat
Although they are locally
Status
Argali are considered a near threatened species, due to domestic livestock ranching and hunting, among other things.
In
However, findings in the mitochondrial genome relationship and the development of interspecies nuclear transfer embryos between Argali and sheep could help in conserving the species in the long run [how?].[8][9]
References
- ^ . Retrieved 24 January 2022.
- ^ Argali
- ^ a b c d e f g Alexander K. Fedosenko and David A. Blank Ovis ammon. Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine Mammalian Species, No. 773, (July 15, 2005), pp. 1–15
- PMID 12028771.
- ^ Hays, Jeffrey. "HIMALAYAN MOUNTAIN GOATS AND SHEEP | Facts and Details". factsanddetails.com. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
- ^ ADW: Ovis ammon: INFORMATION. Animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu (2003-12-16). Retrieved on 2012-08-23.
- .
- PMID 33366518.
- S2CID 12156595.
Further reading
- Salas, E.A.L.; Valdez, R.; Michel, S.; Boykin, K.G. (2018). "Habitat assessment of Marco Polo sheep (Ovis ammon polii) in Eastern Tajikistan: Modeling the effects of climate change". Ecology and Evolution. 8 (10): 5124–5138. PMID 29876087.
- Salas, E.A.L.; Valdez, R.; Michel, S. (2017). "Summer and winter habitat suitability of Marco Polo argali in southeastern Tajikistan: A modeling approach". Heliyon. 3 (11): e00445. PMID 29159323.
- Salas, E.A.L.; Valdez, R.; Boykin, K.G. (2015). "Geographic Layers as Landscape Drivers for the Marco Polo Argali Habitat in the Southeastern Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan". ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information. 4 (4): 2094–2108. .
- Singh, N.J.; Amgalanbaatar, S.; Reading, R.P. (2011). "Grouping Patterns of Argali in Ikh Nart Nature Reserve, Mongolia". Mongolian Journal of Biological Sciences. 8: 7–13.
- Singh, N.J.; Yoccoz, N.G.; Cote, S.D.; Lecomte, N.; Fox, J.L. (2010). "Scale and selection of habitat and resources: Tibetan argali in High altitude rangelands". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 88 (5): 436–447. ]
- Singh, N.J.; Bonenfant, C.; Yoccoz, N.G.; Cote, S.D. (2010). "Sexual segregation in Eurasian wild sheep". Behavioral Ecology. 21 (2): 410–418. .
- Singh, N.J.; Yoccoz, N.G.; Bhatnagar, Y.V.; Fox, J.L. (2009). "Using habitat suitability models to sample rare species in high-altitude ecosystems: A case study with Tibetan argali". Biodiversity and Conservation. 18 (11): 2893–2908. S2CID 25619445.
- Namgail, T.; Fox, J.L.; Bhatnagar, Y.V. (2009). "Status and distribution of the Near Threatened Tibetan argali Ovis ammon hodgsoni in Ladakh, India: effect of a hunting ban". Oryx. 43 (2): 288–291. .
- Singh, N.J. "Animal Habitat relationships in high altitude rangelands. PhD Thesis". University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway. Archived from the original on 2014-12-29. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
- Namgail, T.; Fox, J.L. & Bhatnagar, Y.V. (2007). "Habitat shift and time budget of the Tibetan argali: the influence of livestock grazing" (PDF). Ecological Research. 22: 25–31. S2CID 12451184.
- Namgail, T. (2001). "Habitat Selection and Ecological Separation Between Sympatric Tibetan Argali and Blue Sheep in Northern India. PhD Thesis". University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway.
- Namgail, T. (2007). "Vigilance behaviour of the Tibetan argali Ovis ammon hodgsoni in the Indian Trans-Himalaya" (PDF). Acta Zoologica Sinica. 53: 195–200.
- Namgail, T.; Fox, J.L. & Bhatnagar, Y.V. (2004). "Habitat segregation between sympatric Tibetan argali Ovis ammon hodgsoni and blue sheep Pseudois nayaur in the Indian Trans-Himalaya" (PDF). Journal of Zoology (London). 262: 57–63. .
- Namgail, T. (2003). "Gya-Miru: last refuge of the Tibetan argali". Sanctuary Asia. 23: 16–21. Archived from the original on 2007-08-25.
- Namgail, T., Fox, J.L. & Bhatnagar, Y.V. (2003). Interactions between Argali and livestock in the Proposed Gya-Miru Wildlife Sanctuary.
- University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
External links
- Illustrations of "Aegoceros Ammon" and "Aegoceros Argali" in Zoographia russo-asiatica (1811) by Peter Simon Pallas.