sheep, common name for many species of wild and domesticated ruminant mammals of the genus Ovis of the Bovidae, or cattle, family. The male is called a ram (if castrated it is a wether), the female is called a ewe, and their offspring is a lamb. Wild sheep, found in mountainous parts of Asia, North America, and the Mediterranean region, are agile rock climbers with large, spiraling horns. They do not bear wool. Among those species are the Asian argali, the Barbary sheep, or aoudad, of North Africa, and the North American bighorn bighorn or Rocky Mountain sheep, wild sheep of W North America, formerly plentiful in mountains from Canada to Mexico. Indiscriminate hunting, disease, and scarcity of food have reduced its numbers, and in some areas it has been exterminated.
..... Click the link for more information. , or Rocky Mountain sheep, found from Alaska to Mexico. Sheep were first domesticated c.7,000 years ago, and the first use of their fleeces for wool is dated at c.4000 B.C. Descendants of Roman flocks figured in the evolution of the Merino type in Spain. The present-day breeds of domesticated sheep—which vary greatly because they were developed for different purposes and environments—are all thought to be derived chiefly from the wild mouflon of Sardinia and Corsica and from the urial of Asia. Sheep are bred for their wool wool, fiber made from the fleece of the domestic sheep .

Composition and Characteristics

Wool consists of the cortex, overlapping scales (sharper and more protruding than those of hair) that may expand at their free edges causing fibers to intermesh;
..... Click the link for more information. , meat (mutton mutton, flesh of mature sheep prepared as food (as opposed to the flesh of young sheep, which is known as lamb). Mutton is deep red with firm, white fat. In Middle Eastern countries it is a staple meat, but in the West, with the exception of Great Britain, Australia,
..... Click the link for more information. or lamb, according to age), skins, and, in certain parts of Europe and the Middle East, their milk, from which cheese is made. They are found mostly in temperate climates and thrive on roughages. Most sheep mate in the fall, and the lambs, born five months later, are called spring lambs. Among the important breeds are the Columbia, Cotswold Cotswold sheep, large, white-faced, hornless breed with a broad, flat back, moderately deep body, heavy fleece, and long, coarse wool hanging in ringlets. It was originated in the Cotswold Hills in England.
..... Click the link for more information. , Dorset Dorset sheep, medium-sized breed developed in England; the only major breed in which both rams and ewes are horned. It has been introduced into many areas of the United States, although it has failed to gain widespread popularity there.
..... Click the link for more information. , Hampshire Hampshire sheep, large sheep bred originally in Hampshire, England, by crossing Southdowns, Cotswolds, and other breeds. Hampshires are large in size and hornless, have black faces and legs, and are characterized by rapid growth.
..... Click the link for more information. , Karakul Karakul sheep (kăr`əkəl), breed native to central Asia.
..... Click the link for more information. , Leicester Leicester sheep (lĕs`tər)
..... Click the link for more information. , Lincoln Lincoln sheep, very large-bodied, white-faced, hornless breed having coarse wool, developed in England. It has made considerable contributions to the American sheep industry in the parentage of other breeds and is widely raised in several countries of the Southern Hemisphere.
..... Click the link for more information. , Merino Merino sheep (mərē`nō), breed intermediate in body size having fine wool, developed in Spain.
..... Click the link for more information. , Oxford Oxford sheep, relatively large-bodied, hornless breed developed in England using crosses between Hampshire and Cotswold sheep. The breed was selected for size and productivity. It has not had widespread popularity in the United States.
..... Click the link for more information. , Rambouillet Rambouillet sheep (răm`b
..... Click the link for more information. , Shropshire Shropshire (shrŏp`shĭr, –shər), county (1991 pop. 401,600), 1,348 sq mi (3,491 sq km), W England.
..... Click the link for more information. , Southdown Southdown sheep, mutton breed of sheep originated on the South Downs of Sussex, England, and now raised throughout the world. It is a small sheep, the most thickset of all breeds, and it is valued for the meatiness of the lamb carcasses.
..... Click the link for more information. , and Suffolk sheep Suffolk sheep, relatively large breed, developed in England, well-known for its high quality meat. Considered to be a recent introduction to the United States, the breed has many desirable qualities and is becoming widely accepted there.
..... Click the link for more information. . Sheep are classified in the phylum Chordata Chordata (kôrdā`tə,–dä`–)
..... Click the link for more information. , subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Artiodactyla, family Bovidae.

Bibliography

See M. E. Ensminger, Sheep and Wool Science (4th ed. 1970); N. D. May, The Anatomy of the Sheep (3d ed. 1970); publications of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.

sheep

Ruminants (bovid genus Ovis) that have scent glands in the face and hind feet. Horns, if present, are more divergent than those of goats. Species range from 80 to 400 lb (35 to 180 kg). The coat of wild species consists of outer hair underlain by wool. Sheep graze in flocks, preferably on short, fine grasses and legumes. They have been domesticated from at least 5000 BC in the Middle East, Europe, and Central Asia. Most domesticated breeds produce fine wool; the few that produce only hair or coarse or long wool are generally raised for meat. The flesh of mature sheep is called mutton; that of immature sheep is called lamb.

(mathematics, tool)

SHEEP - A package for symbolic mathematics, especially tensor analysis and General Relativity, developed by Inge Frick in Stockholm in the late 1970s to early 1980s. SHEEP was implemented in DEC-10 assembly language, then in several LISPs. The current version runs on Sun-3 and is based on Portable Standard LISP.

["Sheep, a Computer Algebra System for General Relativity", J.E.F. Skea et al in Proc First Brazilian School on Comp Alg, W. Roque et al eds, Oxford U Press 1993, v2].

http://riaca.win.tue.nl/archive/can/SystemsOverview/Special/Tensoranalysis/SHEEP/index.html.

sheep playV2('en/US/sl/slsgdodydtsfhr');playV2('en/UK/sl/slsgdodydtsfhr')

Composition and Characteristics

Bibliography

sheep

sheep