Polycerate

Polyceraty has been observed in ancient sheep remains dating to {{circa}} 6000 BCE from Çatalhöyük in modern Turkey.{{cite journal |author1=Aurélie Allais-Bonnet |author2=Aurélie Hintermann |author3=Marie-Christine Deloche |author4=Raphaël Cornette |author5=Philippe Bardou |author6=Marina Naval-Sanchez |author7=Alain Pinton |author8=Ashleigh Haruda |author9=Cécile Grohs |author10=Jozsef Zakany |author11=Daniele Bigi |author12=Ivica Medugorac |author13=Olivier Putelat |author14=Ockert Greyvenstein |author15=Tracy Hadfield |author16=Slim Ben Jemaa |author17=Gjoko Bunevski |author18=Fiona Menzi |author19=Nathalie Hirter |author20=Julia M Paris |author21=John Hedges |author22=Isabelle Palhiere |author23=Rachel Rupp |author24=Johannes A Lenstra |author25=Louisa Gidney |author26=Joséphine Lesur |author27=Renate Schafberg |author28=Michael Stache |author29=Marie-Dominique Wandhammer |author30=Rose-Marie Arbogast |author31=Claude Guintard |author32=Amandine Blin |author33=Abdelhak Boukadiri |author34=Julie Rivière |author35=Diane Esquerré |author36=Cécile Donnadieu |author37=Coralie Danchin-Burge |author38=Coralie M Reich |author39=David G Riley |author40=Este van Marle-Koster |author41=Noelle Cockett |author42=Benjamin J Hayes |author43=Cord Drögemüller |author44=James Kijas |author45=Eric Pailhoux |author46=Gwenola Tosser-Klopp |author47=Denis Duboule |author48=Aurélien Capitan |title=Analysis of Polycerate Mutants Reveals the Evolutionary Co-option of HOXD1 for Horn Patterning in Bovidae |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |date=February 2, 2021 |volume=38 |issue=6 |pages=2260–2272 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msab021 |pmid=33528505 |pmc=8136503 |url=https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/38/6/2260/6126410?login=false}}

Polycerate sheep breeds include the Hebridean, Icelandic,{{cite book |last1=Ryan |first1=E. E. |title=The Odd Saga of the American and a Curious Icelandic Flock |date=2011 |publisher=CreateSpace |location=Charleston, S.C. |isbn=9781466383357}} Jacob,{{cite book |first=Craig |last=Glenday |title=Guinness World Records 2013 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780345547118 |url-access=registration |date=30 April 2013 |publisher=Bantam Books |isbn=978-0-345-54711-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780345547118/page/81 81]}} Manx Loaghtan, Boreray and the Navajo-Churro. One example of a polycerate Shetland sheep was a ram kept by US President Thomas Jefferson for several years in the early 19th century in front of the White House. In the spring of 1808 this ram attacked several people who had taken shortcuts across the square, injuring some and actually killing a small boy.{{cite web |title=Sheep - Thomas Jefferson's Monticello |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/sheep |website=Monticello.org |access-date=17 December 2020}} Because of selective breeding, polycerate sheep are increasingly rare in the British Isles{{cite book |first=David |last=Low |title=On the Domesticated Animals of the British Islands: Comprehending the Natural and Economical History of Species and Varieties; the Description of the Properties of External Form; and Observations on the Principles and Practice of Breeding |url=https://archive.org/details/Low1845fw43G |year=1845 |publisher=Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans |page=[https://archive.org/details/Low1845fw43G/page/39 39]}} and Spain,{{cite book |title=Shuttle, Spindle and Dyepot |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ol5WAAAAMAAJ |year=1981 |publisher=Handweavers Guild of America, Incorporated}} but some breeds can still be found in Asia.{{cite book |author=Agricultural & Horticultural Society of India |title=Journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=inJAAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA206 |year=1846 |page=206}} One example is the black-faced sheep of Tibet.{{cite book |author=Asiatic Society (Calcutta, India) |title=Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w0wyAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA1005 |year=1848 |publisher=Bishop's College Press |page=1005}}

There have been incidents of polycerate goats (having as many as eight horns),{{cite book|author=Kim Pezza|title=Backyard Farming: Raising Goats: For Dairy and Meat|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AUMGAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT112|date=26 November 2013|publisher=Hatherleigh Press|isbn=978-1-57826-474-2|pages=112–}} although this is a genetic rarity thought to be inherited. The horns are most typically removed in commercial dairy goat herds, to reduce the injuries to humans and other goats.

4 horns are the norm for the Austrian goat breed Vierhornziege (four-horned goat). [https://www.schlosshof.at/en/the-location/animal-world/ various rare farm animal breeds at Schloss Hof in Austria including Vierhornziege]

File:Fourhornedantelope.JPG]]

Antelopes can also be polycerate, for example, the blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus). Both sexes normally possess one pair of large curved horns.Ackermann, R. R.; Brink, J. S.; Vrahimis, S.; De Klerk, B. (29 October 2010). "Hybrid wildebeest (Artiodactyla: Bovidae) provide further evidence for shared signatures of admixture in mammalian crania". South African Journal of Science 106 (11/12): 1–4.

Cerastes, a legendary Greek horned serpent, is sometimes described with two horns or with four small ones.

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Category:Animal anatomy

Category:Artiodactyls