Mouflon vignei" (or "orientalis") "arkal" and "O. v./o. bochariensis", grouped with two different clades of argali ("Ovis ammon"). The ancestral sheep is presumed to have had 60 chromosomes, as in goats ("Capra"). Mouflon and domestic sheep have 54 chromosomes, with three pairs (1+3, 2+8, 5+11) of ancestral acrocentric chromosomes joined to form bi-armed chromosomes. This is in contrast to the argali and urial, which have 56 and 58 chromosomes respectively. If the urial is as closely related to the mouflons as mitochondrial DNA indicates, then two chromosomes would need to have split during its evolution away from the mouflon (sub)species. In
Crop wild relative Crop wild relative A crop wild relative (CWR) is a wild plant closely related to a domesticated plant, whose geographic origins can be traced to regions known as Vavilov Centers (named for the pioneering botanist Nikolai Vavilov). It may be a wild ancestor of the domesticated plant, or another closely related taxon. The wild relatives of crop plants constitute an increasingly important resource for improving agricultural production and for maintaining sustainable agro-ecosystems. With the advent of anthropogenic climate change and greater ecosystem instability CWRs are likely to prove a critical resource in ensuring food security for the new millennium. It