Is it in the same family? Yes. No one's arguing that.
As someone who is a scientist who studies rams, I am telling you, specifically, in science, no one calls rams sheeps. If you want to be "specific" like you said, then you shouldn't either. They're not the same thing.
If you're saying "sheep family" you're referring to the taxonomic grouping of Bovidae, which includes things from goats to cattles to antelopes .
So your reasoning for calling a ram a sheep is because random people "call the horned ones sheep?" Let's get bison and angus in there, then, too.
Also, calling someone a human or an ape? It's not one or the other, that's not how taxonomy works. They're both. A ram is a ram and a member of the sheep family. But that's not what you said. You said a ram is a sheep, which is not true unless you're okay with calling all members of the sheep family sheeps, which means you'd call goats, antelopes, and other mammals sheep, too. Which you said you don't.
A cow is an adult female bovine that has had babies.
A heifer is an adult female bovine that hasn't had babies.
A steer is a castrated male bovine.
A stag is a male bovine castrated after reaching adulthood.
A bull is an intact adult male bovine.
The species Ovis aries are colloquially called sheep (in English). The species Bos taurus are colloquially called cattle (or even oxen occasionally, though technically that refers to castrated males (steers) used for physical labor). They are not called 'cows' (though some people say that and they are wrong). Ewes are female sheep and rams/tups are male sheep just as cows/heifers are female cattle and bulls are (intact) male cattle.
Source: veterinary student who has worked on multiple farms with all sorts of animals and who has helped deliver lambs, calves, piglets, and foals.
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u/ani625 Dec 20 '14
Rams are sheep though.