Abstract: The Steppe gobi short-tailed sheep belongs to a fine group of Mongolian sheep which are mainly distributed in the northern pastoral desert steppe areas of Darhan Muminggan Joint Banner of Baotou,Siziwang Banner of Ulanqab,Urad Middle Banner of Bayannur City,and desert steppe region of northern pastoral area of Urad Front Banner.Its typical characteristics are short tail and significantly smaller than that of the Sunit sheep.Firstly,the classification and formation of the fat tail sheep in China were discussed,and the origin of fat tail sheep was explored.It is pointed out that the existing fat tail sheep were bred in the Tang Dynasty and were hybridized by fat tail sheep introduced from Central Asia through the Silk Road,southward migrated Mongolian sheep and local ancient Qiang sheep;secondly,the origin and history formation of Steppe gobi short-tailed sheep were explored.We found that their history was closely related to the migration of Sizi,Urad,and Darhan Muminggan nations;finally,the prospects for the breeding of Steppe gobi short-tailed sheep were described.We pointed out that on the basis of traditional breeding,the advanced molecular marker assisted selection and genomics technology should be used to accelerate the genetic progress,to improve the overall degree of the tail type of the Steppe gobi short-tailed sheep,and to increase the breeding benefit.