Mouflon

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iMouflon

A Mouflon in Hungary

Conservation status

Endangered (EN)

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Bovidae
Subfamily:	Caprinae
Genus:	Ovis
Species:	O. musimon, O. ammon or O. orientalis

Binomial name

Ovis musimon, Ovis ammon musimon, Ovis orientalis
Pallas, 1762

European Mouflon

The Mouflon is a species of wild sheep and as such is one of the Caprinae or "goat antelopes". It is thought to be one of the two ancestors for all modern domestic sheep breeds^[1]. It is red-brown with a dark back-stripe, light colored saddle patch and underparts. The males are horned and the females are horned or polled.

They originated in Southwest Asia, where the species known as Asiatic mouflon (Ovis orientalis) lives. They were introduced to the islands of Corsica, Sardinia, Rhodes and Cyprus during the neolithic period, perhaps as feral domesticated animals, where they naturalized to the mountainous interiors of these islands over the past few thousand years, giving rise to the species known as European mouflon (O. musimon or O. ammon). They are now rare on the islands, but have been successfully introduced into central Europe, including Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania, even in some northern European countries, such as Finland.

The scientific classification of the Mouflon is disputed ^[2] but the European Mouflon may be considered as either Ovis musimon or Ovis ammon musimon.

Other names: Agrino (Greek), Muflon (Polish), Muflone (Italian), Corsican Mouflon, European Mouflon, Musimon, Musmon, Sardinian Mouflon.