From the archive record
Blue sheep, (genus Pseudois), also called bharal, either of two species of sheeplike mammals, family Bovidae (order Artiodactyla), that inhabit upland slopes in a wide range throughout China, from Inner Mongolia to the Himalayas. Despite their name, blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur) are neither blue nor sheep. As morphological, behavioural, and molecular analyses have shown, these slate grey to pale brown sheep-looking caprines is actually more closely related to goats (genus Capra) than to sheep (genus Ovis). The behavioral repertoire of blue sheep shows a mixture of goatlike and sheeplike patterns. Blue sheep live in groups; in treeless slopes, alpine meadows, and shrub zones above the timberline; on relatively gentle hillsides with grasses and sedges; and near cliffs, which serve as useful r