The Ovella galega (in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: ''Galician sheep'') is a sheep breed of Galician origin. It belongs to the branch of producers of the inter fina, whose binomial name is the ''Ovis aries celtibericus''. The number of animals of this breed in Galicia improved notably in the last years. In 2012 the total number of Galician sheep was 4,548 (3,862 females and 686 males) distributed in 110 farms.

Geographical distribution

Although once found across Galicia, the breed now only exists in smaller, isolated communities throughout the region. The biggest concentration is located in Ourense, Spain, south of Lugo and the west of

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a Spanish city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the capital of both the '' Comarca'' (County) and Province of Pontevedra, and of the Rías Baixas in Galicia. It is also the capital of its own municipality wh ...

Morphology

The Ovella galega is a sheep of relatively small stature, with a coat that is either all black or white in color. Males develop horns in the form of double-spirals, while in females, horns are generally diminutive if they exist at all. There are two separate

ecotypes In evolutionary ecology, an ecotype,Greek: ''οίκος'' = home and ''τύπος'' = type, coined by Göte Turesson in 1922 sometimes called ecospecies, describes a genetically distinct geographic variety, population, or race within a specie ...

, ''Mariñano'' or of the 'low areas', as well as ''Montaña'', of the 'high areas'. The first ecotype generally features heavier sheep, at around 35-40

kilograms The kilogram (also kilogramme) is the unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI), having the unit symbol kg. It is a widely used measure in science, engineering and commerce worldwide, and is often simply called a kilo colloquially ...

in females and 50-70 kilograms in males. The second, native to higher altitudes, tend to be smaller, around 20-35 kilograms for females and 35-45 kilograms for males.

Uses

The main use for this breed of livestock is their meat and milk production.

References

{{reflist Sheep breeds originating in Spain Sheep breeds