Ovis jubata Peters 1876
Creators: name: Don E. Wilson
name: Russell A. Mittermeier
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Artiodactyla
Bovidae
Ovis
Ovis jubata

description: 204.
Shansi Argali
Ovis jubata
German: Mouflon de Chine / French: Nordchina-Wildschaf / Spanish: Argali del Shansi
Other common names: Northern Chinese Argali
Taxonomy. Ovis jubata Peters, 1876,
NE China.
Usually classified as O. ammon jubata. The type specimen was collected north of Beijing in northern Shansi Province, China. It most closely resembles O. darwini, with which it has been confused. The boundary between this species and O. darwini has not been determined. Monotypic.
Distribution. It was restricted to NE China. Most extant museum specimens purported to be jubata were collected in the mountain ranges N of Hohot, Nei Mongol S of the Mongolian border.
Descriptive notes. Head-body 133-159 cm (males), tail 11-13 cm (males), shoulder height 105-115 cm (males), horn length 117-132 cm (males), basal girth 42-48 cm (males). Body color is dark fawn gray. Side of face, upper neck, middle of lower throat, and shoulder are flecked with white, resulting in a pale effect, but there is no white spotting on shoulders; belly is white and segregated fairly sharply with the dark body hair. Lower legs are pale-colored, but there can be distinct stripes down the foreand hindlegs. The distinct, whitish rump patch does not surround the tail; upper part oftail brownish and connects with the brown of the back. A yellow-brown to pale gray neck ruff of hair 9-10 cm long, twice as long as body hairs,is restricted to the front of the neck; hair is also elongated on the dorsal line of the neck extending to the shoulder.
Habitat. Rough, steep hills dissected by canyons, ravines, and riparian valleys at elevations of 800-2100 m.
Food and Feeding. There is no specific information available for this species, but nearby Gobi Argali are primarily browsers in summer. Forage preferences probably vary depending on seasonal and site-specific forage availability.
Breeding. There is no specific information available for this species, but mating probably occurs in late autumn or early winter and lambing would then occur 155-165 days later in late spring.
Activity patterns. There is no specific information available for this species, but other argali are active in broad daylight even in summer, alternating feeding and rest periods.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is no specific information for this species because current populations (if extant) are so low that no studies are available.
Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix II (under O. ammon). Classified as Near Threatened on The IUCN Red List (under O. ammon). Because of its proximity to a major travel corridor and cities in northern China, it was vulnerable to commercial, subsistence and sport hunting. The population north of Beijing was extirpated by 1900. The Shansi Argali also occurred in an area of intense grazing by domestic animals. It continued to be illegally hunted and its habitat usurped by domestic animals and human agricultural development into the 1900s. It was a favorite game mammal, excessively hunted by Americans and Europeans residing in Beijing and Tianjin. The Shansi Argali may be extinct. There is no known extant population that can definitely be anatomically relegated to this species. Argali populations in Inner Mongolia (Nei Mongol) along the border with Mongolia are anatomically referable to Gobi Argali (O. darwin).
Bibliography. Allen (1940), Andrews (1921), Geist (1991a), Groves & Grubb (2011), Grubb (2005), Harris, Wingard & Hunhuai Bi (2009), Sopin (1982), Sowerby (1914), Wang Sung et al. (1997).
description: Published as part of Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2011, Bovidae, pp. 444-779 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 2 Hoofed Mammals, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on page 693, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6512484