Dear Lenny, still very useful: Boessneck, Joachim / Müller, Hanns-Hermann / Teichert, Manfred (1964): Osteologische Unterscheidungsmerkmale zwischen Schaf (Ovis aries Linné) und Ziege (Capra hircus Linné). – Kühn-Archiv 78(1-2), 1-129 Boessneck, Joachim (1969): Osteological Differences between Sheep (Ovis aries Linné) and Goat (Capra hircus Linné). in: Brothwell, Don / Higgs, Eric S. / Clark, Grahame (eds.): Science in Archaeology – A Survey of Progress and Research, 2nd edition, 331-358, London Greenfield, Haskel J. (2006): Sexing Fragmentary Ungulate Acetabulae. in: Ruscillo, Deborah (ed.): Recent Advances in Ageing and Sexing Animal Bones, Proceedings of the 9th Conference of the International Council of Archaeozoology, Durham, August 2002, 68-86, Oxford Hatting, Tove (1983): Osteological Investigations on Ovis aries L.. – Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra Dansk naturhistorik Forening 144, 115-135 Hatting, Tove (1995): Sex-related Characters in the Pelvic Bone of domestic Sheep (Ovis aries L.). – Archaeofauna 4, 71-76 Spahn, Norbert (1978): Untersuchungen an großen Röhrenknochen von Schafen und Ziegen aus der frühmittelalterlichen Siedlung Haithabu, Schriften aus der Archäologisch-Zoologischen Arbeitsgruppe Schleswig- Kiel 3, Schleswig Relevant for your specific question on differences between sexual dimorphism in sheep and goat is especially Spahn (1978), who comes to similar conclusions like Simn based on a large number of bones from Haithabu. Best Christian -- KNOCHENARBEIT Hans Christian Küchelmann Diplom-Biologe Konsul-Smidt-Straße 30, D-28217 Bremen, Germany tel: +49 - 421 - 61 99 177 fax: +49 - 421 - 37 83 540 mail: [log in to unmask] web: http://www.knochenarbeit.de web: http://www.knochenarbeit-shop.de Am 19.11.2015 um 12:37 schrieb Simon Davis: > Dear Lenny, > > In response to your enquiry concerning sexual dimorphism in sheep > and goat. > It may depend on which bone and part of bone and which measurements > you are discussing. > But certainly for the distal metacarpal, the goats show a huge > amount of sexual dimorphism (as do cattle and fallow deer) to the > extent that most or even all males in a flock of goats should be > separable from females (assuming all are adults). This refers to > measurements like metacarpal WCM and DEM. See Davis, 1981 (figure > 10) - article concerning size variation in late Pleistocene and > Holocene mammals in Israel. > In sheep the average separation is very small - for these > measurements it is around 5% or 6% only. See Table 6 in Davis > (2000) - article discussing differences between Shetland ewes, > wethers and rams. > > I hope this helps a little. Somewhere once upon a time, I think I > wrote that goats, fallow deer and cattle all show much sexual > dimorphism whereas animals like the sheep show very little sexual > dimorphism (except of course measurements taken on the pubis bone). > > I'll send you some articles separately, AND CAN RESEND THESE TO > ANYONE INTERESTED!!!! > > > > Best wishes, > > > > Simon > > References: > > Davis, SJM. 1981 The effects of temperature change and > domestication on the body size of Late Pleistocene to Holocene > mammals of Israel. Paleobiology 7, 101 114 > > Davis, SJM. 2000 The effect of castration and age on the > development of the Shetland sheep skeleton and a metric comparison > between bones of males, females and castrates Journal of > Archaeological Science 27, 373-390 > > Davis, S.J.M; Svensson, E.M.; Albarella, U.; Detry, C.; > Götherström, A.; Pires, A.E. and Ginja, C. (2012) Molecular and > osteometric sexing of cattle metacarpals: a case study from 15th > century AD Beja, Portugal. Journal of Archaeological Science. > London. 39 (5), 1445-1454. DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2011.12.003 > > > > -----Mensagem original----- > De: Analysis of animal remains from archaeological sites > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Em nome de Lenny Salvagno > Enviada: quinta-feira, 19 de Novembro de 2015 10:36 > Para: [log in to unmask] > Assunto: [ZOOARCH] sheep and goat sexual dimorphism: reference > > Dear Zooarchers, > > I am trying to find a suitable reference on sexual dimorphism in > sheep and goat. > > In particular, I would like to know if there is any paper claiming > that goats are more sexually dimorphic than sheep. > > Any suggestion will be highly appreciated, > > Thanks! > > Lenny Salvagno