{{Short description|Species group of the wild sheep}} {{Speciesbox | name = Mouflon | status = NT | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn |name-list-style=amp |author=Michel, S. |author2=Ghoddousi, A. |date=2020 |title=''Ovis gmelini'' |article-number=e.T54940218A22147055 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T54940218A22147055.en |access-date=16 January 2022}}</ref> | status2 = CITES_A1 | status2_system = CITES | status2_ref = <ref name=iucn/> | image = Cyprus mouflon (Ovis gmelini ophion).jpg | image_caption = Male Cyprus mouflon (''Ovis gmelini ophion'') | taxon = Ovis gmelini | authority = Blyth, 1841 | range_map = Ovis-gmelini-map.png | range_map_caption = Range of the ''Ovis gmelini'' }}

The '''mouflon''' or '''moufflon'''<ref>{{cite web |title=mouflon |website=Merriam-Webster Dictionary |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mouflon |access-date=27 March 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=mouflon |website=Collins English Dictionary |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/mouflon |access-date=27 March 2026}}</ref> ('''''Ovis gmelini''''') is a wild sheep native to Cyprus, two separate parts of Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Iran.<ref name=iucn /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Turkish mouflon |url=https://users.metu.edu.tr/cbilgin/gmelinii.htm |access-date=2026-03-17 |website=users.metu.edu.tr}}</ref>It is also found in parts of Europe. It is thought to be the ancestor of all modern domestic sheep breeds.<ref>{{cite journal |pmid=12028771 |year=2002 |last1=Hiendleder|first1=S. |last2=Kaupe|first2=B. |last3=Wassmuth|first3=R. |last4=Janke|first4=A. |title=Molecular analysis of wild and domestic sheep questions current nomenclature and provides evidence for domestication from two different subspecies |journal=Proceedings: Biological Sciences |volume=269 |issue=1494 |pages=893–904 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2002.1975 |pmc=1690972 |bibcode=2002PBioS.269..893H }}</ref><ref name="Hiendleder2002">{{cite journal |doi=10.1093/jhered/89.2.113 |title=Analysis of mitochondrial DNA indicates that domestic sheep are derived from two different ancestral maternal sources: No evidence for contributions from urial and argali sheep |year=1998 |last1=Hiendleder |first1=S. |last2=Mainz |first2=K. |last3=Plante |first3=Y. |last4=Lewalski|first4=H. |journal=Journal of Heredity |volume=89 |issue=2 |pages=113–120 |pmid=9542158 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Taxonomy== ''Ovis gmelini'' was the scientific name proposed by Edward Blyth in 1841 for wild sheep in the Middle East.<ref name=Blyth1841>{{cite journal |author=Blyth, E. |year=1841 |title=An Amended List of the Species of the Genus ''Ovis'' |journal=The Annals and Magazine of Natural History; Zoology, Botany, and Geology |volume=7 |issue=44 |pages=248–261 |url=https://archive.org/details/annalsmagazineof07lond/page/248/mode/2up}}</ref> In the 19th and 20th centuries, several wild sheep were described that are considered mouflon subspecies today:<ref>{{cite book |author=IUCN/SSC Caprinae Specialist Group |year=2000 |title=Workshop on Caprinae taxonomy, 8–10 May 2000 |location=Ankara, Turkey |publisher=IUCN}}</ref> * ''Ovis ophion'' by Blyth in 1841 for wild sheep in Cyprus;<ref name=Blyth1841/> * ''Ovis laristanica'' by Nikolai Nasonov in 1909 for wild sheep in Lar in southern Iran;<ref>{{cite journal |author=Nasonov, N.V. |year=1909 |title=Note préliminaire sur une nouvelle espèce de Mouton sauvage, ''Ovis laristanica'', de la Persie méridionale |journal=Извѣстія Императорской Академіи Наукъ |volume=3 |issue=18 |pages=1179–1180 |url=http://www.mathnet.ru/links/cd651ae92fdbc1f580b11deb8481a867/im7321.pdf}}</ref> * ''Ovis orientalis isphahanica'' by Nasonov in 1910 for wild sheep in the Zagros Mountains.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Nasonov, N.V. |year=1910 |title=О дикомъ восточномъ баранҍ С. Гмелина (''Ovis orientalis'' Pall.) |trans-title=About the wild eastern sheep ''C. gmelina'' (''Ovis orientalis'' Pall.) |journal=Извѣстія Императорской Академіи Наукъ |volume=4 |issue=9 |pages=681–710 |language=ru |url=http://www.mathnet.ru/links/33d0d6a9c643d1e5365a08a4a99f33cf/im7060.pdf}}</ref>

== Subspecies == Five mouflon subspecies are distinguished by MSW3<ref name="Don E. Wilson 2005">{{MSW3 Artiodactyla |id=14200825 |heading=Species ''Ovis gmelini''}}</ref>, from west to east: * Anatolian mouflon, ''O. g. anatolica'' <span class="Person">(Arıhan, 2000)</span>, also called ''ceren'' once almost extinct population of mouflon that is slowly coming back. Core population lives in the region of Konya, and has been reintroduced to Ankara, Eskişehir, Afyonkarahisar, Karaman, Kahramanmaraş and Kırşehir in its former range.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ANADOLU YABAN KOYUNLARI YENİ YAŞAM ALANLARINDA... |url=https://www.tarimorman.gov.tr/DKMP/Haber/202/Anadolu-Yaban-Koyunlari-Yeni-Yasam-Alanlarinda |access-date=2026-03-17}}</ref> Total population is about 800.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.tarimtv.gov.tr/tr/video-detay/koruma-altindaki-anadolu-yaban-koyunlarinin-sayisi-artiyor-17563 |title=Koruma altındaki Anadolu yaban koyunlarının sayısı artıyor - Genel - Tarım Orman Ekranı |language=en |access-date=2026-03-17 |via=www.tarimtv.gov.tr}}</ref> * Cyprus mouflon, ''O. g. ophion'' <span class="Person">(Blyth, 1841)</span>: also called ''agrino'' (from the Greek {{Lang|el|Αγρινό}}); nearly driven to extinction during the 20th century. In 1997, about 1,200 individuals were counted. The television show ''Born to Explore with Richard Wiese'' reported 3,000 individuals on Cyprus. * Armenian mouflon (Armenian red sheep), ''O. g. gmelini'' <span class="Person">(Blyth, 1851)</span>: nominate subspecies; native to easternmost Turkey, northwestern Iran, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. It has been introduced to Texas in the U.S. * Esfahan mouflon, ''O. g. isphahanica'' <span class="Person">(Nasonov, 1910)</span>: Zagros Mountains, Iran. * Laristan mouflon, ''O. g. laristanica'' <span class="Person">(Nasonov, 1909)</span>: a small subspecies, its range is restricted to some desert reserves near Lar in southern Iran.

The European mouflon was once thought to be a subspecies of the mouflon, but is now considered to be a feral descendant of the domestic sheep (''Ovis aries''), as ''Ovis aries musimon''.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Gentry, A. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Clutton-Brock, J. |author3=Groves, C. P. |year=2004 |title=The naming of wild animal species and their domestic derivatives |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |volume=31 |issue=5 |pages=645–651 |doi= 10.1016/j.jas.2003.10.006|bibcode=2004JArSc..31..645G |url=https://www.mammaldiversity.org/explore.html#species-id=1006204|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Relation to other sheep== Based on comparison of mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences, three groups of sheep (''Ovis'') have been identified: Pachyceriforms of Siberia (snow sheep) and North America (bighorn and Dall sheep), Argaliforms (argali) of Central Asia, and Moufloniforms (urial, mouflon, and domestic sheep) of Eurasia.<ref name="Bunch2005">Bunch, Wu, Zhang, Wang (2005). "Phylogenetic analysis of the snow sheep (''Ovis nivicola'') and closely related taxa", ''Journal of Heredity'', 97 (1) 21–30. [https://academic.oup.com/jhered/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/jhered/esi127]</ref> However, a comparison of the mitochondrial DNA control region (CR) found that two subspecies of urial, ''Ovis vignei'' (or ''orientalis'') ''arkal'' and ''O. v./o. bochariensis'', grouped with two different clades of argali (''Ovis ammon'').<ref name="Hiendleder2002" />

The ancestral sheep is presumed to have had 60 chromosomes, as in goats (''Capra''). Mouflon and domestic sheep have 54 chromosomes, with three pairs (1+3, 2+8, 5+11) of ancestral acrocentric chromosomes joined to form bi-armed chromosomes. This is in contrast to the argali and urial, which have 56 and 58 chromosomes respectively. If the urial is as closely related to the mouflons as mitochondrial DNA indicates, then two chromosomes would need to have split during its evolution away from the mouflon (sub)species.<ref name="Bunch2005" />

==Description== thumb|Mouflon female Mouflon have reddish to dark brown, short-haired coats with dark back stripes and black ventral areas and light-colored saddle patches. The males are horned; some females are horned, while others are polled. The horns of mature rams are curved almost one full revolution (up to 85&nbsp;cm). Mouflon have shoulder heights of around 0.9&nbsp;m and body weights of 50&nbsp;kg (males) and 35&nbsp;kg (females).<ref name= macdonald>{{cite book | last = MacDonald | first = D. |author2=Barret, P. |title=Mammals of Britain & Europe |volume= 1| year = 1993| publisher = HarperCollins |location = London | isbn =978-0-00-219779-3 |pages=220–221}}</ref>

==Distribution and habitat== During the late Pleistocene mouflon ranged from central Turkey to northern Syria northern Iraq, up to Armenia, Azerbaijan and western Iran, roughly corresponding to the Fertile Crescent.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Yeomans |first1=Lisa |last2=Martin |first2=Louise |last3=Richter |first3=Tobias |date=August 2017 |title=Expansion of the known distribution of Asiatic mouflon (Ovis orientalis) in the Late Pleistocene of the Southern Levant |journal=Royal Society Open Science |volume=4 |issue=8 |article-number=170409 |doi=10.1098/rsos.170409 |doi-access=free |issn=2054-5703 |pmc=5579105 |pmid=28878989 |bibcode=2017RSOS....470409Y }}</ref>

Their typical habitat is gently rolling hills in the steppe-forest ecotone.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Turkish mouflon |url=https://users.metu.edu.tr/cbilgin/gmelinii.htm |access-date=2026-03-17 |website=users.metu.edu.tr}}</ref>

== Behaviour and ecology == === Reproduction === Mouflon rams have a strict dominance hierarchy. Before mating season or "rut", which is from late autumn to early winter, rams try to create a dominance hierarchy to determine access to ewes (female mouflon) for mating. Mouflon rams fight one another to obtain dominance and win an opportunity to mate with females. Mouflons reach sexual maturity at the age of two to four years. Young rams need to obtain dominance before they get a chance to mate, which takes another three years. Mouflon ewes also go through a similar hierarchy process in terms of social status in the first two years, but can breed even at low status. Pregnancy in females lasts five months, in which they produce one to two offspring.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

A mouflon was cloned successfully in early 2001, and lived at least seven months, making it the first clone of an endangered mammal to survive beyond infancy.<ref>{{Cite journal |pmid=11581663 |year=2001 |last1=Loi|first1=P. |last2=Ptak|first2=G. |last3=Barboni|first3=B. |last4=Fulka Jr|first4=J. |last5=Cappai|first5=P. |last6=Clinton|first6=M. |title=Genetic rescue of an endangered mammal by cross-species nuclear transfer using post-mortem somatic cells |volume=19 |issue=10 |pages=962–964 |doi=10.1038/nbt1001-962 |journal=Nature Biotechnology |bibcode=2001NatBi..19..962L |s2cid=10633589}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/10/1025_TVsheepclone.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011102131140/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/10/1025_TVsheepclone.html |archive-date=November 2, 2001 |author=Trivedi, B. P. |year=2001 |title=Scientists Clone First Endangered Species: a Wild Sheep |publisher=National Geographic Today |access-date= February 21, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/10_01/cloned_sheep.shtml |author=Winstead, E. |date=2001 |title=Endangered wild sheep clone reported to be healthy |publisher=Genome News Network |access-date=April 10, 2007}}</ref> This demonstrated that a common species (in this case, a domestic sheep) can successfully become a surrogate for the birth of an exotic animal such as the mouflon. If cloning of the mouflon can proceed successfully, it has the potential to <!-- not true - no new genetic material expand the species' gene pool and -->reduce strain on the number of living specimens.

== Conservation == The mouflon is protected in Armenia and Azerbaijan. In Turkey and Iran, hunting is only allowed with a special license. The population in Cyprus is listed as a strictly protected species in the Habitats Directive of the European Union and has been listed in CITES Appendix I since November 2019.<ref name=iucn/>

==In culture== {{More citations needed section|date=December 2015}} The male mouflon is called ''Mufro'' in Corsica, and the female ''Mufra''; the French naturalist Buffon (1707&ndash;1788) rendered this in French as ''{{Lang|fr|moufflon}}''. In Sardinia, the male is called ''Murvoni'', and the female ''Murva'', though it is not unusual to hear the peasants style both indiscriminately ''Mufion'', which is a palpable corruption of the Greek ''Ophion''.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Blyth|first1=E. |last2=Owen|first2=R. |title=On the species of the genus ''Ovis''|journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London |date=1840 |volume=8|pages=62–79}}</ref> * The mouflon was the logo of Cyprus Airways until 2015, and is depicted on the 1-, 2-, and 5-cent Cypriot euro coins. * The mouflon is featured on the historical flag of the Armenian kingdom of Syunik, and on tombstones. * The mouflon is the symbol and the nickname of the Cyprus national rugby union team. * The mouflon is the official mascot of Craghoppers, the UK outdoor clothing manufacturer.

==See also== * Castlemilk Moorit * Urial

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == {{Commons category|Ovis gmelini}} {{Wikispecies|Ovis gmelini}}

{{Artiodactyla|R.3}} {{Taxonbar |from=Q24170152}} {{Authority control}}

Category:Ovis Category:Mammals of Azerbaijan Category:Mammals of the Middle East Category:Mammals of Turkey Category:Caucasus Category:Fauna of Iran Category:Mammals described in 1841 Category:Taxa named by Edward Blyth Category:Habitats Directive species