Is a lamb and sheep the same animal?

Answer 1

Many breeds and species of Goats and Sheep look alike, especially when you compare such animals in the Middle East and India. Goats and sheep are different species, of different subfamilies. Both have unbranched non-deciduous horns, but sheep have tear ducts below their eyes, and scent glands under their dewclaws. Goats do not. Raspberry, Portland, Oregon

Answer 2

A sheep-goat hybrid is the hybrid offspring of a sheep and a goat. Although sheep and goats seem similar and can be mated, they belong to different genera. Sheep belong to the genus Ovis and have 54 chromosomes, while goats belong to the genus Capara and have 60 chromosomes. The offspring of a sheep-goat pairing is generally stillborn. Despite widespread shared pasturing of goats and sheep, hybrids are poorly attested, indicating the genetic distance between the two species. They are not to be confused with Geep , which are Chimera .

Answer 3

No, sheep are primarily used for both meat and wool production (the only breed of goat used for fleece is the Angora, another breed of goat used for its fibre are Cashmeres), goats are taller than sheep. Goats tails stand upright and usually are only about 2-3 inches long, a sheep's tail is usually docked (if it is not docked it can be about 5 inches long).

Answer 4

No, they are from different species and genus, they only commonality between the three is that they are all ruminants.

Above answer is incorrect. "Species" and "genus" are man-made terms that often have little bearing on Biology besides being useful for labeling things. In nature, many hybrids have been found between species and genera.

Cattle and goats share many common features. Their biggest difference is their size and behavior. One critical similarity is that they both have 40 chromosomes, which significantly increases their chances of producing a hybrid. (Sheep and goats can also produce hybrids, despite having different numbers of chromosomes. These hybrids are exceedingly rare, however.)

While no cow-goat hybrid has ever been documented, this is probably due to practicality more than possibility.

Cattle, goats, and sheep are actually related to a wide variety of ruminating mammals. Antelopes, oxen, bison, buffalo, and others are all related, many with documented hybrids proving this. Climbing further down the family tree, they are also related to deer/elk/moose and giraffes/okapis. It is not known whether these animals are capable of interbreeding, though.

This vast family tree makes sense when one considers that cattle and all of their relations are considered "clean animals", meaning they have cloven hooves and chew their cud. This distinction was made by God for the Hebrews because the animals designated as "clean" just happen to be the healthiest meat that one can consume. Hebrew dietary laws were in place to prevent diseases that stem from under-cooked meat.

Going further back in history, though, God commanded Noah to take seven of every kind of clean animal with him on the ark. While there has been much speciation since the Flood, it is possible that the three main branches of the cattle kind were present: cattle-goats-sheep, giraffes-okapis, and deer-elk-moose. All extant ruminating, cloven-hoofed mammals likely descended from these three pairs. (The seventh was used as a sacrifice.) This is why the cattle kind displays so much more variety than other mammal kinds which went through a tighter bottleneck.

Answer 5

Yes - they are the same creature. Lambs are what we call baby sheep.

Answer 6

They are both mammals, they both produce wool and cashmere. They both are farm animals.

Answer 7

a lamb is a baby sheep