56 



MAMMALS OF AMERICA 



STONE MOUNTAIN SHEEP 

 Ovis stonei Allen 



Other Name. — Black Mountain Sheep. 



General Description. — See also general description 

 of Rocky Mountain Bighorn. Color darker than the 

 Rocky Mountain Bighorn ; horns more slender. 



Dental Formula. — See formula given for Rocky 

 Mountain Bighorn. 



Pelage. — Above, blackish-brown and whitish mixed. 

 A broad blackish stripe from occiput to base of tail. 

 Face and sides of neck paler. Front of neck, chest and 

 sides almost black. Rump patch, back of thighs, under- 

 parts to center of chest, where it ends in a point, and 



back of legs, white. Outside of legs blackish-brown. 

 Tail black with some white hairs on lower surface. 

 Hoofs black, horns pale brown. 



Measurements. — Length, male, 5 feet, 6 inches. 

 Horns over curve, 30 inches; circumference at base, 13 

 inches. 



Range. — From Cassiar Mountains 61° north, south 

 to headwaters of Nelson and Peace Rivers, Rocky 

 Mountains; west to longitude 134°. Found in Stickeen, 

 Cheonnees and Etsezas Mountains, Alaska. 



Food. — Grasses and herbaceous plants. 



Stone's is a dark form of Mountain Sheep liv- 

 ing in the northern Rockies, in regions of bounti- 

 ful rainfall, which fact has a tendency to produce 

 dark color patterns in all animals. It is often 

 called the Black Mountain Sheep, from its 

 general dark appearance. Its size is about that 

 of Ball's Sheep, but its horns have a much wider 

 spread. A head, at one time in the possession of 

 Mr. Robson of the Hudson's Bay Company, 



measured fourteen and one-quarter inches in 

 circumference at the base, and had a spread of 

 twenty-eight and three-quarter inches, the horns 

 curving outward at the tips. 



This Sheep presents a striking contrast to the 

 White Mountain Sheep. It is blackish-brown 

 and whitish mixed on the upper parts, a broad 

 blackish stripe running to the base of the tail. 

 The horns are pale brown. 



General Description. — Color, white with black 

 horns and hoofs. Height about three feet at withers. 

 Weight 180-300 pour.ds. Both se.xes have horns which 

 are never shed. Horns ridged and roughened at base 

 and curving gently backward and somewhat outward, 

 those of male being the larger. Horns of young 

 animals short and straighter. Tail short and almost 

 hidden in long hair of rump. Muzzle is haired, there 

 are no facial glands, and in both sexes a beard grows 

 from sides of lower jaw. Ears moderate sized, clothed 

 with short hairs. Shoulders are higher than rump 

 giving animal a humped appearance somewhat similar 

 to that of the bison. A very shaggy animal. 



Dental Formula. — Incisors, "-^— ; Canines, ''^- ; Pre- 



4 — 4 — o 



molars, ^~^ ; Molars, ^^^ = -la. 



Pelage. — Adults, both sexes: The hair is every- 

 where whitish from tips to roots. In winter the 

 visible hairs are long and straight, being longest on 

 neck, chest and midline of back from shoulders to 

 rump. Underneath is a coat of short woolly fur more 

 or less e.xposed in summer when outer coat is shed. 

 A very distinct beard is found on both se.xes growing 

 from sides of lower jaw. Owing probably to stain, the 

 tone of the white is seldom pure, but with a yellowish 

 tinge more pronounced in summer. Young : Pelage 

 same as adults, but during the first summer lacking the 

 long hair of the outer coat. 



Measurements. — Length, male, 5 feet; tail, 5'j 

 inches ; hind foot, i foot, i inch. Height at shoulder, 

 3 feet, 3 inches. Horn, along front curve, 10^ inches ; 

 circumference at base, 5'/^ inches; from tip across to 



ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT 

 Oreamnos montanus iOrd) 



tip. SH inches. Female, somewhat smaller 



Weight of 

 female about one-fifth less than male. 



Range. — The higher mountains from Alaska south 

 to California, in former times, now probably only to 

 Idaho. Never found far from regions of heavy annual 

 snowfall. Today found in greatest abundance in British 

 Columbia. By nature, denizen of the Alpine life zone, 

 special preference being shown for localities where 

 crags and cliffs are the features of the landscape. 



Food. — Strictly herbivorous. Feeds upon scattered 

 grasses among the rocks, pine needles and, in winter, 

 upon any exposed vegetation it may find. 



Remarks. — Erroneously called " goat," this animal 

 is in reality an Antelope closely related to the Himala- 

 yan Serow, and is classified in a different section from 

 that containing the domestic goat. 



Related Species 



Rocky Mountain Goat. — Oreamnos montanus mon- 

 tanus (Ord). The animal described above. Ranges in 

 the Cascade Mountains north to British Columbia. 



Columbia Rocky Mountain Goat. — Oreamnos 

 montanus cohnnbianus .Allen. Much larger than typical 

 montanus, with longer and narrower skull. Found in 

 British Columbia. 



Allen Rocky Mountain Goat. — Oreamnos mon- 

 tanus missoular Allen. Smaller than either of the 

 above, with narrow skull. Found in Montana. 



Kennedy Rocky Mountain Goat. — Oreamnos kett- 

 nedyi Elliot. Differs from montanus in skull char- 

 acters, and has larger, more widely flaring horns. 

 Found in southern Alaska. 



