A History of Agriculture in India v1.c16.28

v1.c16.28

Sheep (*Ovis orientalis vignei*). All varieties of domestic sheep have descended from three species of *Ovis* found wild in the mountainous regions of Asia and Europe. The earliest to be domesticated in south-west Asia was *Ovis orientalis vignei*, the urial, found wild from Tibet to Elburz mountains. Descendants of *Ovis musimon*, the mouflon, are found in Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, Cyprus, Anatolia and northern Iran. *Ovis ammon*, the argali, is found in the mountainous regions of Soviet Central Asia. The argali is a very large sheep, with a shoulder height of up to 120 cm, and occurs farther east and north-east than the urial, ranging from Bokhara through the Altai Mountains and Tibet to northern China. According to Zeuner, it has certainly contributed to the domesticated stock of India and the Far East, but in connection with the origins of sheep-breeding it is of subordinate importance.