I thought this was super interesting. Initially saw it on Wikipedia but this is the best article I could find that puts most of the info in one spot. Wikipedia[1] describes it as:
> A unique strain within the population is the Leader sheep, which carries a hereditary ability or predisposition to lead other sheep safely over dangerous ground.
When looking for leader sheep, Iceland immediately comes up so it does seem to be unique to that environment. I can only imagine the evolutionary pressures that led to this, and it makes me wonder if other animals (including humans) have hereditary traits. (Perhaps there is some logic to a royal line after all! (jk)) Sheep aren't even native to that island; they were introduced only a few hundred years ago yet this trait apparently doesn't exist elsewhere.
> A unique strain within the population is the Leader sheep, which carries a hereditary ability or predisposition to lead other sheep safely over dangerous ground.
Picture of such a sheep: https://www.animalgeneticresources.net/wp-content/uploads/20... (from [2])
When looking for leader sheep, Iceland immediately comes up so it does seem to be unique to that environment. I can only imagine the evolutionary pressures that led to this, and it makes me wonder if other animals (including humans) have hereditary traits. (Perhaps there is some logic to a royal line after all! (jk)) Sheep aren't even native to that island; they were introduced only a few hundred years ago yet this trait apparently doesn't exist elsewhere.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_sheep
[2] https://www.animalgeneticresources.net/index.php/country/ice...