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Ovis ammon jubata
Also called Shanxi argali
DESCRIPTION (male) Shoulder height 41-46 inches (104-117 cm). A large argali, with dark fawn-gray upperparts that contrast rather sharply with the light belly. The rump patch is large and light-colored, with distinct borders, and does not surround the tail. The tail has a dark stripe on top that is a continuation of the dark dorsal stripe. There is a dark, but not pronounced, flank spot ahead of the hind legs. The lower legs are light, with distinct patches or stripes in front. There is a well-developed mane on neck and shoulders and a relatively short, light-gray neck ruff that blends into the dark shoulder hair. Compared with the Tibetan argali, its neck ruff is much shorter, darker and more limited in extent, and its horns are more massive, with more massive cores.
DISTRIBUTION & STATUS As of the 1980s, an estimated 600-700 animals survived in the Yabrai Shan, Lang Shan and Daqin Shan mountains of Inner Mongolia, and the Helan Shan mountains on the border of Inner Mongolia and Ningxia; however, they were no longer found in Shaanxi, Shanxi or Hebei. Listed as endangered by the Chinese government. The principal threat to their existence was said to be poaching by locals. In 2000, the IUCN reported the subspecies as apparently extinct.
TAXONOMIC NOTES Some authorites regarded this animal as a form of Gobi argali (O. a. darwini), rather than a separate subspecies; however, it did not appear to be closely related.
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