dwarf blue sheep, dwarf bharal (Pseudois schaeferi) Title Tibetexpedition, Erlegter Blauschafwidder
Original caption Kanch, erbeuteter Blauschafwidder
Archive description Blauschaf, Bharal
Depicted place Tibetexpedition
Date 1938
Photographer Ernst Schäfer (1910–1992)
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_135-S-06-24-35,_Tibetexpedition,_Erlegter_Blauschafwidder.jpg
The dwarf blue sheep or dwarf bharal (Pseudois schaeferi) is an endangered species of caprid found in China Proper and Tibet. It inhabits low, arid, grassy slopes of the upper Yangtze gorge in Batang County of the Sichuan Province, and a small part of the Tibet Autonomous Region, where it is known by the local name rong-na. Originally given subspecific status to the bharal (Pseudois nayaur), morphological research conducted in the 1970s led it to be considered a distinct species. However, recent molecular analysis has shown the difference between the two species is slight, and suggests it should be treated as a subspecies of the bharal.
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Caprinae
Genus: Pseudois
Species: Pseudois shaeferi Haltenorth, 1963