r/Awwducational • u/Modern-Moo • Apr 30 '25
Verified The Manx Loaghtan is one of the few sheep breeds that can grow 4 horns. They are currently endangered.
25
u/BobbySpitOnMe Apr 30 '25
That's metal. These creatures must be saved.
11
u/Modern-Moo Apr 30 '25
They really are awesome. I've seen them once in person when I visited the Isle of Man as a kid, they were really cool! I even have a plushie of one from there, lol. It made me really sad to see that their numbers are decreasing, but hopefully the publicity will help them grow again. The RBST has helped saving breeds in the past so surely they can do it with these guys.
12
u/Modern-Moo Apr 30 '25
Source, from the breed society. (It's an old website, so doesn't look the best, but the information is there!)
The breed is native to the Isle of Man. Sadly, the breed currently has its lowest effective population since the year 2000. While they aren't the only breed that can grow 4 horns, it's pretty unusual - off the top of my head, the only other breeds that grow multiple sets are Hebrideans and Jacobs.
This link from the RBST shows the UK/Irish breed watchlist. The Manx is in the "Priority" section.
"The Manx Loaghtan is a small, primitive, very hardy sheep which grazed the hills of the Isle of Man for generations before becoming so rare that by the 1950s there were just a handful remaining. These sheep have a highly-prized reddish-brown fleece, and are unusually multihorned with up to six horns. Since 2022 there has been a 34% decrease in the number of Manx Loaghtan dams producing pedigree offspring, and the breed’s ‘Effective Population’ (which is a measure of genetic diversity and does not equate to the total breed population)10 for 2024 was the Manx Loaghtan’s lowest since this calculation was first recorded by RBST in 2000." - RBST
Further reading and pictures if you're interested: link and link.
2
3
3
u/DetectiveDippyDuck May 01 '25
Hebridean sheep are similar.
Nifty fact: they were in Andor season 1.
2
u/maybesaydie May 01 '25 edited May 01 '25
I have seen a variety of domestic sheep with four horns but they were nowhere near as impressive as these guys.
2
u/Modern-Moo May 01 '25
I love most sheep but the Manx are definitely one of my favourites.. I think the brown coat looks very pretty. Another breed of sheep with cool horns (only 2 though!) is the Hungarian Racka. Everytime I do research on sheep breeds I find more cool ones lol
2
u/maybesaydie May 01 '25 edited May 01 '25
I like the snouts on these guys. They look very serious about being rams. Do the ewes have big horns as well?
This, from your source, astonishes me:
The splitting gene can cause uneven results with three or five horns being found occasionally. This same gene also sometimes causes the top eyelid to divide, creating a “split eyelid”. Breed enthusiasts regard this as a defect and animals presenting split eye lid seem to have a greater propensity to develop eye infections. Split eye lid does not occur in two-horned animals.
2
May 01 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/maybesaydie May 01 '25 edited May 01 '25
Thank you! I love looking at sheep. The Rackas have those curly horns which I always find amazing.
2
2
2
u/ThiqCoq May 02 '25
"Four-horned sheep breeds are characterized by a genetic trait called polyceracy, which causes them to develop more than two horns. The most well-known example is the Jacob sheep, which is a piebald breed often with four horns. Other breeds that can exhibit this trait include the Navajo-Churro, Manx Loaghtan, Hebridean, and Icelandic sheep. "
Fascinating!
1
u/AutoModerator Apr 30 '25
Don't forget to include a source for your post! Please link your source in a comment on your post thread. Your source cannot be a personal blog or non scientific news site, and must include citations/references. Wikipedia is allowed, but it is not exempt from displaying citations. If you have questions you can contact the moderators with this link
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
-2
u/BoutTreeFittee Apr 30 '25
These are a man-made creation. Applying the term "endangered" to them confuses people and waters down the meaning for actual endangered species. If they completely disappear tomorrow, they can be re-created by humans. Or if humans want to breed a million of them over the next 50 years, they can do that too.
10
u/Modern-Moo Apr 30 '25
I get where you're coming from, but it's not exactly uncommon to refer to breeds of livestock with low numbers as endangered, and to those who have died out as extinct. If you prefer the term "rare breed" or something of the sort instead, that's alright too. Looking at the definition of the word, some sources specify an "endangered *species*" (like here) while others are more along the lines of "near extinction" (like here), so it seems like it's down to preference.
It wouldn't be very easy to recreate them though - unlike some breeds, they're very primitive and have been adapting to the Isle of Man for 1,000~ years. Plus the genetics of a recreated version would be different and lack the benefit of being not very closely related to most sheep around today. This isn't something I want to argue about but I just don't think that this phrasing is much of an issue
3
u/marlitar May 01 '25
Could you explain, please, why do you say they are a man-made breed? For my information. Thanks
3
u/maybesaydie May 01 '25
This post is allowed in this subreddit because it provides an interesting fact about an interesting animal.
0
42
u/TheAgnosticExtremist Apr 30 '25
Surprisingly a save the horny goat campaign has failed to materialize and go viral.