Year of Sheep vs Goat

Happy Year of the Sheep (Ram) … err ..or Goat?

All are basically conveyed by the Chinese character 羊

This leads to some confusion since, biologically and genetically, sheep and goats are quite distinct. Sheep (Ovis aries) have 54 chromosomes, while goats (Capra aegagrus hircus) have 60. While sheep and goats will occasionally mate, fertile sheep-goat hybrids are rare. Hybrids made in the laboratory are called chimeras. The easist way to tell the difference between a sheep and goat is to look at their tails.

So, 羊年快乐!  Happy Year of the Chimera!