Frank Garcia, age 12, of E1 Paso, Texas, for his question:

HOW BIG IS THE BIGGEST WILD SHEEP?

Common name for the largest species of wild sheep is the argali, a large animal that inhabits the high mountains and plateaus of Central Asia. The largest of the argali is the Siberian, which stands about four feet high at the shoulder and may weigh up to 350 pounds.

The 12 known varieties of argali range in color from buff to brown in summer, turning pale to white in winter.

The male argali has spectacular horns. They are immense and deeply ridged. The horns curl downward and then distinctively spiral outward, often making more than on complete turn.

The Siberian argali's horns measure as much as 16 inches in circumference at the base and reach four feet in length. The horns of the smaller but equally magnificient Pamir argali reach the spectacular length of about six feet.

The Pamir argali has long hair and is found in the Pamir plateau in Turkestan. It was described by Marco Polo and is also known as the Marco Polo sheep.