Skull 3
Take a closer look at this animal skull. What can this skulls tell you about the animal's diet? Their eyesight? Their behaviors? Their place in the food web?
Static Images
This skull belonged to a domestic sheep.
Habitat: can be found in captivity worldwide
Diet: Herbivore – Grazers
- Feed on various local grasses and roughage
Average Life Span: 10-12 years
Size: 3-4 feet (height), 4.5 feet (length)
Weight: 80-400 pounds
Sheep were first domesticated from wild species of sheep at least 5000 BCE, and their remains have been found at numerous sites of early human habitation in the Middle East, Europe, and Central Asia. Domesticated sheep are raised for their fleece (wool), for milk, and for meat. There were estimated to be more than one billion sheep in the world in the early 21st century.
Sources: Encyclopedia Britannica: sheep
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Acknowledgements
The Skulls exhibit at the Science Learning Center gives visitors a chance to see and touch real (and some replica) animal skulls, many from local animal species. Special thanks to Dr. Ted Stankowich of the Mammal Lab and Suellen Jacob in the Biological Sciences Department for lending these interesting specimens to the SLC.
3D images courtesy the California Academy of Sciences; physical specimens are part of the Academy's Ornithology & Mammalogy collections.
For accessibility assistance, please contact us via email at cnsm@csulb.edu. Please allow 24 to 48 hours to reply.
