Bovidae in Chinese mythology from Kashmir to Iran, including much desert country characteristic of the historic Western Regions. The European mouflon ("Ovis musimon") is thought to be the ancestor of the modern domestic sheep ("Ovis aries"), and was historically herded by the Xiong Nu, and other population groups located in or near China. The domestic goat ("Capra aegagrus hircus") is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. Another species historically found wild in parts of China include the serow and the goral. This group includes various miscellaneous species, including gazelles. Species which have historically ranged in
European mouflon hairy coat, the rams are fox red-brown in the summer, usually with a whitish saddle patch, the ewes are brownish. Both sexes are darker in winter. The rams have helix-shaped horns up to 80 cm long; females have no horns on Sardinia, but on Corsica they have smaller horns that are slightly curved towards the rear. As an animal whose ancestors used to live in open terrain above the tree line, the eyesight of the mouflon is well developed. Its laterally-located eyes allow the mouflon to scan a wide arc without turning its head. In older rams, the field of