Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Wild yak



The Wild yak(Bos grunniens or Bos mutus), is a long-haired bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Tibetan Plateau and as far north as Mongolia and Russia. Wild yaks are among the largest bovids, with adults standing about 1.6 to 2.2 m tall at the shoulder and weighing 325–1,000 kg and having a head and body length of 2.5 to 3.4 m. The tail is 70 to 100 cm long in wild yaks. The females weigh about one third of this and are about 30% smaller in their linear dimensions.Domesticated yaks are much smaller, males weighing 350 to 580 kg and females 225 to 255 kg.Wild Yaks are heavily built animals with a sturdy frame, short legs, and rounded hooves. They have small ears and a wide forehead, with smooth hollow horns that are generally dark in colour. In males, the horns sweep out from the sides of the head, and then curve forward; they typically range from 48 to 99 centimetres in length. The horns of females are smaller, only 27 to 64 centimetres in length, and have a more upright shape.Both sexes have long shaggy hair with a dense woolly undercoat over the chest, flanks, and thighs to insulate them from the cold.Wild Yak physiology is well adapted to high altitudes, having larger lungs and heart than cattle found at lower altitudes, as well as greater capacity for transporting oxygen through their blood due to the persistence of foetal haemoglobin throughout life.

                                                      SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION
                                                         Kingdom   :   Animalia
                                                             Phylum  :   Chordata
                                                              Class    :    Mammalia
                                                               Order   :   Artiodactyla
                                                              Family   :    Bovidae
                                                                Genus  :    Bos
                                                            Species    :   B. grunniens

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