Altai argali (''Ovis ammon ammon'') is a traditional
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
of
argali
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. It ...
, a wild
sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated sh ...
that roams the highlands of the
Altai Mountains
The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob have their headwaters. The massif merges with the ...
in
Central Asia.
Altai argali are the largest sheep in the world and also have the heaviest horns. The horns of mature males normally weigh 45 to 50 pounds and up to 75 pounds (35 kg).
[ Rashid Jamsheed (1996), ''Memories of a Sheep Hunter'', Safari Press (2nd edition), .]
References
External links
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Ovis
Mammals of Central Asia
Mammals of China
Mammals of Russia
Mammals of Mongolia
Mammals described in 1758
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
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