Sheep

Specifically North European Short-tailed (NEST) or (NST)

There is just something special about them. Started with sheep that eat seaweed, almost entirely seaweed. Then sheep without herding instinct and in a place that seems inaccessible today yet 2,000+ years of dwelling and genetically distinct between the small islands in the archipelago. Where did they come from, who brought them here and how long did this take?

From a mix of mouflon decedents = Ovis aries

List of breeds:

Soay – Hirta, St. Kilda, Scotland, UK

Boreray Blackface – Boreray, St. Kilda, Scotland, UK

Scottish Dunface (extinct)

North Ronaldsay – Orkney, Scotland, UK

Hebridean – Hebrides, Scotland

Shetland – Shetland Isle, Scotland, UK

Scottish Dunface – Exported from Hirta, St. Kilda, Scotland remaining in Britain

Castlemilk Moorit – Dumfriesshire, Scotland, UK

Manx Loaghtan – Isle of Man, UK

Kerry Mountain (Extinct) – Ireland

Cladagh Claddagh (Extinct) – Connemara, Ireland

Romanov – Volga Valley, Russia

Estonian Ruhnu – Ruhnu and Kihnu Islands, Estonia

Old Norwegian sheep – Austevoll, Vestland, Norway

Spælsau – Norway

Tautersheep (Extinct) – Tautra, Norway

Dala Palsfar – Dalarnas län, Sweden

Gotland – Gotland Island, Sweden

Gute sheep – Gotland Island, Sweden

Roslag – Roslagen, Sweden

Tabacktorp – Västansjö, Sweden

Icelandic – Iceland

Faroese – Faroe Islands, Denmark

Litla Dimun – Faroe Island, Denmark

German Grey heath – Northern Germany

White horned health – Northern Germany

White polled heath – Northern Germany

Skudde – Northern Germany

Ouessant sheep – Ushant Island, France

This list is largely based on the article “North European short-tailed breeds of sheep : a review” by Ólafur R Dýrmundsson and Roman Niżnikowski

Dýrmundsson, Ólafur & Niżnikowski, Roman. (2010). North European short-tailed breeds of sheep: A review. Animal : an international journal of animal bioscience. 4. 1275-82. 10.1017/S175173110999156X.

Some Scottish sheep are in this category. Spread of these sheep occurred in several waves Vikings between 700 and 1000 CE, previous ocean fairing people between 300 and 700 CE into the northern Atlantic and others before bringing sheep out of the Near East.

Naming determined by face color, horns and coat in the Medieval to Middle Periods (Ryder, 1984). Specific naming examples of this system are Scottish Blackface, Whiteface Woodland, Devon Closewool, or the German moorland breeds below with heath as the last quantifier.

Figure 3 Welcomed presentation of identified genes associated with important traits. Note: Figure 3 is based on the Sheep Trait Association Analysis section of this review, summarizing key genes associated with important traits such as wool quality, milk production, and reproductive performance in sheep. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

A second migration, theory by Sherratt, could be supported by genetic evidence (Chessa et al., 2009; Sherratt, 1981)