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Sheep grazing on the south lawn of the White House, c. 1918. No ovine species native to the Americas has ever been domesticated, despite being closer genetically to domestic sheep than many Asian and European species. The first domestic sheep in North America—most likely of the Churra breed—arrived with Christopher Columbus' second voyage ...
The exact line of descent from wild ancestors to domestic sheep is unclear. [2] The most common hypothesis states that Ovis aries is descended from the Asiatic (O. gmelini) species of mouflon; the European mouflon (Ovis aries musimon) is a direct descendant of this population. [3]
The domestication of animals commenced over 15,000 years before present (YBP), beginning with the grey wolf (Canis lupus) by nomadic hunter-gatherers. It was not until 11,000 YBP that people living in the Near East entered into relationships with wild populations of aurochs, boar, sheep, and goats. A domestication process then began to develop.
Domestication (not to be confused with the taming of an individual animal [3] [4] [5]), is from the Latin domesticus, 'belonging to the house'. [6] The term remained loosely defined until the 21st century, when the American archaeologist Melinda A. Zeder defined it as a long-term relationship in which humans take over control and care of another organism to gain a predictable supply of a ...
Prey animals, sheep, goats, pigs and cattle, were progressively domesticated early in the history of agriculture. [3] Pigs were domesticated in the Near East between 8,500 and 8000 BC, [4] sheep and goats in or near the Fertile Crescent about 8,500 BC, [5] and cattle from wild aurochs in the areas of modern Turkey and Pakistan around 8,500 BC. [6]
Ovis is a genus of mammals, part of the Caprinae subfamily of the ruminant family Bovidae. [1] Its seven highly sociable species are known as sheep or ovines. Domestic sheep are members of the genus, and are thought to be descended from the wild mouflon of central and southwest Asia.
Domestication is a gradual process, so there is no precise moment in the history of a given species when it can be considered to have become fully domesticated. Zooarchaeology has identified three classes of animal domesticates: Pets (dogs, cats, ferrets, hamsters, etc.) Livestock (cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, etc.)
Sheep were domesticated in Mesopotamia between 11,000 BC and 9000 BC. [38] Cattle were domesticated from the wild aurochs in the areas of modern Turkey and India around 8500 BC. [39] Camels were domesticated relatively late, perhaps around 3000 BC. [40] Centres of origin identified by Nikolai Vavilov in the 1930s.