Animalia Life

Sheep are estimated to have evolved over two million years ago. They were the first agricultural animal to be domesticated, about twelve thousand years ago, just after the end of the last Ice Age. It is estimated that sheep domestication occurred in the Middle East, with the nomadic tribesmen that lived near the current Iran and Iraq. The sheep herding practice spread west to the Mediterranean Sea area to Africa and Spain. By 4000 b.c.e., sheep could be found in northern Europe, India, and China. The domesticated sheep evolved from either the European mouflon or the Asiatic mouflon, which can still be found in the wild. These sheep were very large in comparison to current sheep, and weighed about the same as some breeds of cattle. They had huge curved horns, and had thick woolen coats covered with long guard hairs that helped repel water and snow. Modern sheep resemble the sheep of old, but only weigh about one third as much. The shepherds strove to improve their flocks, and culled out the sheep that did not improve the breeding. In general, sheep are classified as either carcass animals, developed for meat consumption, or fiber animals, which were used primarily for wool clothing. If a sheep is used for food consumption and is under one year of age, its meat is called lamb, but if it is a year old or older it is referred to as mutton.

Description
Sheep come in all shapes and sizes, with many different variations. Many have horns that are large and curving, others are polled and have no horns at all. Depending on the breed, some sheep have horns in the male, where the female has none; in other breeds, both sexes have horns. Some sheep are covered with wool and need to be sheered on a regular basis; others have no wool and are hair sheep, raised for either meat or hides. Most hair sheep were developed in the tropics and are relatively immune to parasites. Sheep are excellent grazers and prefer a varied diet of green soft plants of almost every description. Sheep prefer to eat as they walk up hills rather than grazing when walking down. They can be very selective in choosing what they eat, as their mouths are flexible due to a cleft in their lips that serves them like fingers. Sheep are agile and can move very quickly on cloven hooves. Sheep are ruminants and have a four-compartment stomach that allows them to regurgitate the herbage they have eaten and then chew cud. Sheep do not have teeth on the upper front of the jaw but have a hard pad, where food is pressed between the pad on top and the teeth on the bottom. The sheep uses a jerking, upward motion to pull up its food, then swallows it. Most sheep have wool as an outer cover, although several of the more primitive breeds are covered by hair. The color white is the most dominant of colors, but other colors and spots are present in several breeds. A sheep's skin is very thin, less than 0.1 inches in thickness. The skin also has sweat glands, which are missing in most other domesticated animals. The number of fibers that grow out of the skin of a sheep varies from breed to breed. The carcass-bred sheep have the least, whereas the fine wool sheep the most. The fiber number can be as low as 4,500 follicles, to asmuchas 80,000 follicles per square inch.

Sheep Life
Sheep in general live for about eight to ten years. Depending on the breed, they will mature in one or two years. The ram is able to reproduce earlier than the ewe, and can be put into service before the female can. Sheep tend to breed during the late autumn or early winter. The gestation period for a ewe is five months. Whenthe lambs are born, the average weight is about nine pounds, about the same size as the average domestic cat. Most are single births, but twins are frequently born. Lambs nurse for about eight weeks. Sheep are followers, and they will follow a leader in groups. At the first sign of danger, they run. They would rather live in totally dry conditions, and do not do well where it is moist and muddy, even though they have cloven feet. Sheep also have the ability to do without water for extended periods of time, but prefer to have it available.

Sheep Facts

Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Ungulates
Suborder: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Genus and species: Ovis aries (domestic sheep)
Geographical location: Every continent except Antarctica
Habitat: Land, including mountainous regions, desert and dry land, forested areas, tropics
Gestational period: Approximately five months, depending on breed
Life span: Up to ten years, although some have survived up to twenty years
Special anatomy: Narrow muzzle divided by a center cleft; very flexible lips, which allow them to graze close to the ground and to be very selective as to the plants and food eaten; wool

Other popular Animals