Phenotypic characteristics and comparative evaluation of preserved animals from Lithuanian pig breeds

The aim of the study was phenotypic characterization and comparative evaluation of Lithuanian Indigenous Wattle and Lithuanian White pigs. Physical measurements were taken only from a representative set of adult animals: sows and boars. Evaluation of breeds included discrete (qualitative) and quantitative variables and was performed according to the Guidelines of FAO for Phenotypic Characterization of Animal Genetic Resources. The data were subjected to the analysis of variance in general linear (GLM) and discriminant analysis procedures in SPSS 17. The qualitative characterization of preserved animals validated the characteristics of Lithuanian pig breeds described in old literature. The comparative evaluation of the physical measurements of Lithuanian White and Lithuanian Indigenous Wattle pigs showed the highest significant differences in body, ear and tail length. Due to the different physiological status of females the statement that Lithuanian White pigs are larger animals than Lithuanian Indigenous Wattle pigs better confirms the weight and body dimensions of males. Small differences in body dimensions were found only between the youngest animal groups under 24 months of age and older animals. However, the results of the canonical discriminant analysis did not give any evidence that pigs of different age have different characteristics.

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Phenotypic characterization of sheep populations in Tahtay Maichew district, Northern Ethiopia

Genetic Resources ◽

10.46265/genresj.shbd3744 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 12-22

Author(s):

Abebe Hailu ◽

Amine Mustefa ◽

Tesfalem Asegede ◽

Abraham Assefa ◽

Seble Sinkie ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Coat Color ◽

Age Groups ◽

Tail Length ◽

Color Pattern ◽

Phenotypic Characterization ◽

Northern Ethiopia ◽

Breeding Programs ◽

Quantitative Measurements ◽

Qualitative Characteristics

Eighteen quantitative measurements and fourteen qualitative characteristics taken from 306 adult sheep (57 rams and 249 ewes) were used to characterize sheep populations of district, Ethiopia. Most traits showed significant variation by zone, sex and age groups with higher values generally recorded for rams as compared to ewes. Middle age group animals displayed highest values for several traits, reflecting the optimal production age. zone affected ewes more than rams. The highland sheep height at withers, widest shoulder points and longest hair, indicative of adaptation to their environment. Qualitative characteristics of the studied sheep populations such as tail shape, plain coat color pattern, skin, hairy fiber and the absence of horn, toggle, ruff and beard suggest that they constitute a previously sheep breed. Tan coat color differentiated high and midland sheep from lowland sheep where white and brown colors were dominant. Canon bone length, height at withers and tail length were the three most important variables used in discriminating the sheep populations. On average 66% of the animals could be classified into their respective zone. Our data suggest that highland sheep populations are distantly related to lowland sheep, while midland sheep are more closely related to lowland sheep. It can be concluded that breeding programs specific to each zone need to be designed for sustainable utilization and conservation of the studied sheep populations. Furthermore, molecular based studies might allow further characterization of Ethiopian sheep breeds.

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Use of multivariate analysis as a tool in the morphological characterization of the main indigenous bovine ecotypes in northeastern Algeria

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0255153 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (7) ◽

pp. e0255153

Author(s):

Aissam Bousbia ◽

Sofiane Boudalia ◽

Yassine Gueroui ◽

Kamel Hadded ◽

Abdelkader Bouzaoui ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Discriminant Analysis ◽

Genetic Resources ◽

Local Environment ◽

Morphological Characterization ◽

Phenotypic Characterization ◽

Stepwise Discriminant Analysis ◽

Livestock Farming ◽

Improvement Program ◽

Mahalanobis Distances

Sustainability in livestock farming requires monitoring of autochthonous breeds which are well adapted to the local environment. The morphometric measurements seem to be the first approach which can provide useful information on the suitability of animal genetic resources for selection. In this work, thirteen morphometric variables were used for the phenotypic characterization of 130 adult autochthones cattle randomly selected from 30 local farms in Guelma. There were cases from four commonly accepted and traditional ecotypes: Guelmois, Cheurfa, Sétifien and Fawn. The results showed several and significant positive correlations between the different variables. Correlations were analyzed using Varimax orthogonal rotation PCA and three factors were extracted, which explain more than 75% of the total variation in the four ecotypes. Stepwise discriminant analysis showed that 6 of the 13 variables had discriminatory power to define the phenotypic profile of the ecotypes. Canonical discriminant analysis indicated that the Sétifien ecotype is separate from the other three ecotypes. Mahalanobis distances were significant between the different ecotypes except for the distance between the Guelmois and Fawn ecotypes. The cross-validation procedure assigned 91.42% of the Sétifien animals to their genetic group, while the percentages of animals assigned to the Cheurfa, Guelmois and Fawn ecotypes were 80.00%, 65.71% and 53.33% respectively. The multivariate approach has proven to be effective in differentiating the four ecotypes, with clear morphological differences from the Sétifien ecotype that may benefit from a genetic improvement program for more sustainable genetic resources preservation.

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