Sheep with Big horn - Bighorn sheep

Hi,   since after long time we meet again, today we will see a ship which may give you a head butt with his big horn yes we are going to see Big Horn Sheep.

                                                 Classification

Kingdom:        Animalia                                             Phylum:           Chordata

Class:             Mammalia                                           Order:            Artiodactyla

Family:           Bovidae                                              Subfamily:     Caprinae

            Genus: Ovis

Bighorn Sheep are the symbol of Rocky Mountain National Park. Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) are one of two species of mountain sheep in North America. They range in color from light brown to grayish or dark brown, and have a white rump and lining on the backs of all four legs. Bighorn sheep get their name from the large, curved horns on the males, or rams. They are legendary for their ability to climb high, steep, rocky mountain areas.

The bighorn sheep is a species of sheep native to North America named for its large horns.

These horns can weigh up to 14 kg (30 lb), while the sheep themselves weigh up to 140 kg (300 lb). Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspecies of Ovis canadensis, one of which is endangered: O. c. sierrae. Sheep originally crossed to North America over the Bering land bridge from Siberia; the population in North America peaked in the millions, and the bighorn sheep entered into the mythology of Native Americans. By 1900, the population had crashed to several thousand, due to diseases introduced through European livestock and overhunting. Ovis canadensis is one of three species of mountain sheep in North America and Siberia; the other two species being O. dalli, which includes Dall sheep and Stone's sheep and the Siberian snow sheep, O. nivicola. Wild sheep crossed the Bering land bridge from Siberia into Alaska during the Pleistocene (about 750,000 years ago) and subsequently spread through western North America as far south as Baja California and northwestern mainland Mexico.

Bighorn sheep are named for the large, curved horns borne by the rams (males). Ewes (females) also have horns, but they are shorter with less curvature. They range in color from light brown to grayish or dark, chocolate brown, with a white rump and lining on the backs of all four legs. Males typically weight 58–143 kg, are 90–105 cm tall at the shoulder, and 1.6–1.85 m long from the nose to the tail. Females are typically 34–91 kg, 75–90 cm tall, and 1.28–1.58 m long. Male bighorn sheep have large horn cores, enlarged cornual and frontal sinuses, and internal bony septa. These adaptations serve to protect the brain by absorbing the impact of clashes.

Bighorn sheep have preorbital glands on the anterior corner of each eye, inguinal glands in the groin, and pedal glands on each foot. Secretions from these glands may support dominance behaviors. Mating occurs in the fall when rams use their horns as weapons of battle to fight for dominance or female mating rights. In this display called "rut," rams face each other, rear up on hind legs and pitch forward at speeds up to 40 mph. The loud crash of horns signals contact and can be heard up to one mile away. This ritual is repeated until one animal concedes and walks away. Bighorn sheep skulls are thick and bony to absorb this repeated impact with little physical injury to the ram.

The Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep occupy the cooler mountainous regions of Canada and the United States. In contrast, the desert bighorn sheep subspecies are indigenous to the hot desert ecosystems of the Southwestern United States and Mexico. Bighorn sheep generally inhabit alpine meadows, grassy mountain slopes, and foothill country near rugged, rocky cliffs and bluffs. Since bighorn sheep cannot move though deep snow, they prefer drier slopes, where the annual snowfall is less than about 150 cm per year. A bighorn's winter range usually lies at lower elevations than its summer range.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, there were between 1.5 million to two million bighorn sheep in North America. Today, there are less than 70,000.

Bighorn sheep eat different foods depending on the season. During the summer, they subsist on grasses or sedges. During the winter they eat more woody plants, such as willow, sage and rabbit brush. Desert bighorn sheep eat brushy plants such as desert holly and desert cactus.

Ploughshare Tortoise Unique but close to extinct

 Ploughshare Tortoise Unique but close to extinct should know about special

Scientific classification

Kingdom:  Animalia         Phylum: Chordata               Class: Reptilia              Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira       Family: Testudinidae         Genus: Astrochelys       Species: A. yniphora 

Binomial nameAstrochelys yniphoraVaillant, 1885,The Ploughshare Tortoise is a land tortoise that lives only on the island of Madagascar. They are considered the most threatened species of land tortoises because many of them have been captured to keep as pets, and because their habitat has been turned into farmland.
Ploughshare tortoises are smallish land tortoises with high-domed, brown shells, measuring around 40 centimeters long. Males weigh a bit over 10 kilograms, while females average 8.8 kilograms – the sexes can often be distinguished visually by size. One of the plates, or scutes, of the lower shell projects out and up between the front legs, vaguely resembling a ploughshare and giving the species its name.Adress :-The ploughshare tortoise is found only in a sixty square kilometre area in north-western Madagascar, around Baly Bay. The terrain and flora here is mixed, including mangrove swamp, savannah, bamboo scrub, and deciduous forest. Most of the region is within 50 meters of sea level. The tortoises prefer dense bamboo thickets.

Extinction is looming large in the ploughshare tortoise’s future, and may occur in no more than a decade. The species cannot replenish itself rapidly due to its slow reproductive cycle. Hunting by humans is one major pressure on this tortoise, but even more damage is being done to these reptiles by the bush pig. This swine species was introduced by people, and preys on both the eggs and young of the tortoise.Madagascar farmers often carelessly start more or less uncontrolled fires to clear brush for agriculture, and these fires can spread and destroy ploughshare tortoise habitat and kill the animals themselves.

                                                       

They are also known as Ploughshare Tortoise,angonoka, angonoka tortoise, Madagascar tortoise, Madagascar angulated tortoise.
Shell size:- Maximum 44.6 cm

The Ploughshare Tortoise lives only on the dry grasslands in the northwest part of the island of Madagascar.
.The Ploughshare Tortoise is the most threatened species of land tortoises. One reason for this is their popularity as pets. Most tortoises retract into their shells to hide and protect themselves from their enemies. However, for hunters interested in selling them as pets, this instinct to hide and remain motionless in their shells at the sense of danger is a convenience because it makes them easier to catch. Many of the Ploughshare Tortoises have been captured to be sold as pets, thus reducing their population.