Sheep

Sheep

A Sheep is a mammal, one of several woolly ruminant quadrupeds in the genus Ovis. The domestic sheep is thought to be descended from the wild moufflon of south-central and south-west Asia. A male sheep is a ram, a female a ewe, and a young sheep a lamb. Sheep meat is called mutton or simply lamb.

Sheep are usually stockier than their goat relatives, and some have horns which are more more divergent than those of goats. Sheep have scent glands on the face and hind feet. Communication through the scent glands is not well understood but is thought to be important for sexual signaling. Males can smell females which are fertile and ready to mate, and rams mark their territories by rubbing scent on to rocks.

Sheep are highly gregarious bovids (members of the family Bovidae) and ruminants, meaning they chew cud. They have a four chambered stomach which plays a vital role in digesting, reguritating and re-digesting food. For related species, see goat antelope.