urial
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Noun [edit]
urial (plural urials)
- A bearded reddish sheep, Ovis orientalis (alternatively Ovis orientalis vignei or Ovis vignei), endemic to southern Asia, being a wild ancestor of domestic sheep.
- 1990, A. Ghosh (editor), Animals, Domestication of, article in An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology, page 3,
- All domesticated sheep are descended from the moufflon, urial or argali. They are closely related to each other and connected by intermediate breeds. Most wool sheep are believed to have been derived from urial stock, while hair sheep are traced back to the moufflon.
- 2011, Colin Groves, Peter Grubb, Ungulate Taxonomy, page 237,
- O. severtzovi has been shuffled back and forth between the urial and the argali groups.
- 2011, John P. Rafferty, Grazers, Britannica Educational Publishing, page 136,
- Most urials live in open habitats, with few or no trees, but there are indications that this may be a recent adaptation to changing environmental conditions and that the urial was originally more of a woodland animal than at present.
- 1990, A. Ghosh (editor), Animals, Domestication of, article in An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology, page 3,
Usage notes [edit]
Taxonomic classification of sheep species/subspecies remains incompletely decided.
