Marco Polo’s Sheep i 8 9
O. ammon1 and the build perhaps rather lighter. General characters very
similar to those of the latter, but the horns thinner and frequently longer.
1 lorns of adult male long, slender, and forming more than a complete circle;
typically the front angles well developed, the wrinkles on the front surface
placed rather far apart~at the base of the h|#ns, and those on the lateral
surface frequently but slightly developed. Hair o f summer pelage longer
than in 0. ammon ; general colour of upper-partnf adult male in summer
F ig . 37.-—Head of Pamir race of Marco Polo’s Sheep. From a specimen in the possession of
Mr. David T. Hanbury.
pelage light speckled brown ; most or all of face, throat, chest, under-parts,
buttocks, and legs white, the white extendingBargely on to the outer
surface the thighs ; a black streak from the nape to the withers ; no
distinct ruff on the throat. In winter the hair considerably longer, and
1 Major C. S. Cumberland, as quoted by Mr. Rowland Ward, states that this sheep grows to 4 feet
at the shoulder, but Mr. Blanford, in his latest memoir on that species, speaks of O. ammon being probably
the larger animal of the two, and I cannot find any record of its exceeding 4 feet. Mr. Littledale’s
male of 0. ammon in the British Museum measures about 3 feet 9 inches as mounted, his poll 3 feet
5 inches, and his sairensis 3 feet 2 inches; but there may have been some shrinkage in the skins.