Morphological measurements and indexes as a tool to support molecular genetic studies: an example in Canary Islands

Figures & data

Figure 1.  Morphologic measurements recorded in this experiment.

Note: Bl, body length; Bw, breast width; Dbe, distance between eyes; Hn, height at the end of neck; Hl, head length; Hb, height to the breast; Hc, height to the rump; Sc, shank circumference; Tc, thoracic circumference; Rl, rump length; Rw, rump width.

Table 1. Morphological parameters of Majorera Breed (MB), Tinerfeña Breed (TF) and semi wild goat (SWG).

	MB	TF	SWG		Capote et al. (1998)	Capote et al. (1998)
Measurements	Mean±SD	Mean±SD	Mean±SD	P	MB^a	TF
Height at the end of neck	70.94±3.93^a	69.56±2.38^a	54.42±4.97^b	**	70.70	68.5
Height to the rump	72.91±3.52^a	69.86±2.50^b	55.55±4.39^c	**	73.40	72.2
Height to the breast	38.61±3.04^a	37.30±2.61^b	29.84±2.28^c	**	–	–
Body length	79.55±0.60^a	75.68±4.16^b	60.72±4.77^c	**	70.50	72.4
Breast width	17.20±1.94^a	17.08±2.08^a	12.97±1.58^b	**	20.70	20.9
Thorax depth	31.93±5.19^a	32.25±3.13^a	24.58±4.16^b	**	32.20	32.4
Thoracic circumference	87.68±7.14^a	85.66±6.13^a	68.03±5.99^b	**	96.50	97.1
Shank circumference	9.31±0.71^a	8.95±0.53^b	7.45±0.51^c	**	9.40	9.4
Head length	23.18±2.13^a	23.20±2.56^a	18.42±1.26^b	**	22.00	22.6
Head width	12.96±1.20^a	11.16±1.34^b	10.77±0.62^b	**	13.30	12.8
Rump length	24.20±3.04^a	23.85±2.81^a	17.9±1,66^b	**	22.40	22.5
Rump width	17.33±1.20^a	16.45±1.89^b	12.65±1.36^c	**	16.70	16.9
Weight	55.62±12.18^a	56.10±9.00^a	23.52±5.07^b	**	–	–
Note: Length measurements are in centimetre and weight in kilograms Different letters (a, b, c) in the same row, mean statistical difference (P<0.01).
^aMajorera Breed (raised in Fuerteventura Island) was used in Capote et al. (1998).
**Means with significantly different (P<0.001).

Table 2. Zoometric indexes of Majorera Breed (MB), Tinerfeña breed (TF) and semi wild goat (SWG).

	MB	TF	SWG
Indexes	Mean±SD	Mean±SD	Mean±SD	P
Body index	91.6±6.52^a	88.60±5.46^b	87.38±5.69^b	**
Thoracic index	53.75±7.26	53.15±6.16	54.4±11.4	0.806
Cranial index	56.18±5.51^a	48.44±6.43^a	58.61±2.97^b	**
Rump index	71.54±9.59	69.71±10.43	70.75±5.63	0.511
Relative thoracic deep index	45.51±3.98	46.34±3.78	44.9±4.7	0.239
Tranver rump index	24.46±2.07	23.67±2.96	23.32±2.36	0.068
Long rump index	34.5±3.92	34.31±4.02	33.05±3.23	0.194
Relative weight index	78.13±15.05^a	80.57±11.98^a	43.03±7.22^b	**
Relative shortness index	88.85±4.58^a	92.14±5.13^b	92.45±4.42^b	**
Shank weight index	17.35±3.16^a	16.29±2.33^a	32.83±5.79^b	**
Different letters (a, b) in the same row, mean statistical difference (P<0.01). **Measurements with significantly different (P<0.01).

Table 3. Correlations between morphologic measurements of Majorera Breed (MB), Tinerfeña Breed (TF) and semi wild goat (SWG).

		Hc	Hb	Bl	Bw	Td	Tc	Sc	Hl	Dbe	Rl	Rw	W
Hn	SWG	0.880**	0.556**	0.788**	0.350	0.890**	0.494**	0.386*	0.408*	0.293	0.441*	0.508**	0.616**
	MB	0.740**	0.440**	0.784**	0.381**	0.687**	0.482**	0.406**	0.334**	0.265*	0.386**	0.378**	0.593**
	TF	0.683**	0.217	0.240	0.189	0.578**	0.377**	0.215	0.338**	0.330**	0.147	0.069	0.434**
Hc	SWG		0.545**	0.746**	0.411*	0.752**	0.397*	0.305	0.434*	0.392*	0.447*	0.611**	0.548**
	MB		0.460**	0.686**	0.442**	0.397**	0.466**	0.468**	0.287**	0.230*	0.305**	0.374**	0.586**
	TF		0.328**	0.159	−0.069	0.245	0.361**	0.226	0.332**	0.347**	0.234	0.080	0.395**
Hb	SWG			0.548*	0.331	0.116	0.060	0.210	0.024	0.044	0.392*	0.250	0.362*
	MB			0.140	0.142	−0.350**	0.082	0.195	0.037	0.044	0.299**	0.197	0.169
	TF			−0.193	−0.401**	−0.671**	−0.283*	−0.146	0.132	−0.176	−0.367**	−0.013	−0.316*
Bl	SWG				0.666**	0.598*	0.622*	0.241	0.367	0.335	0.626*	0.531*	0.707**
	MB				0.538**	0.645**	0.632**	0.542**	0.296*	0.338*	0.309*	0.428**	0.681**
	TF				0.421**	0.343**	0.544**	0.223	0.370**	0.222	0.368**	0.260*	0.613**
Bw	SWG					0.236	0.501**	0.248	0.225	0.505**	0.532**	0.695**	0.568**
	MB					0.257*	0.703**	0.548**	0.392**	0.307**	0.309**	0.560**	0.747**
	TF					0.479**	0.536**	0.385	0.192	0.152	0.201	0.332**	0.555**
Td	SWG						0.557**	0.346	0.474**	0.325	0.312	0.469**	0.538**
	MB						0.367**	0.213	0.273*	0.175	0.007	0.189	0.366**
	TF						0.522**	0.285	0.146	0.397**	0.418**	0.064	0.593**
Note: Hn, height at the end of neck; Hc, height to the rump; Hb, height to the breast; Bl, body length, Bw, breast width, Td, the torax depth; Tc, thoracic circumference; Sc, shank circumference; Hl, head length; Dbe, distance between eyes; Rw, rump width; Rl, rump length; W, weight.
*Measurements with significantly different (P<0.05).
**Measurements with significantly different (P<0.01).

Table 4. Correlations between morphologic measurements of Majorera Breed (MB), Tinerfeña Breed (TF) and semi wild goat (SWG).

		Hc	Hb	Bl	Bw	Td	Tc	Sc	Hl	Dbe	Rl	Rw	W
Tc	SWG							0.594**	0.639**	0.687**	0.591**	0.494**	0.852**
	MB							0.725**	0.420**	0.352**	0.284*	0.604**	0.883**
	TF							0.484**	0.568**	0.391**	0.549**	0.392**	0.868**
Sc	SWG								0.609**	0.605**	0.689**	0.339	0.653**
	MB								0.217	0.244*	0.285**	0.622**	0.709**
	TF								0.387**	0.230	0.242	0.323*	0.525**
Hl	SWG									0.684**	0.498**	0.403*	0.576**
	MB									0.307**	0.210	0.368**	0.429**
	TF									0.261*	0.394**	0.226	0.562**
Dbe	SWG										0.694**	0.658**	0.635**
	MB										0.260	0.314**	0.423**
	TF										0.292*	0.157	0.351**
Rl	SWG											0.695**	0.679**
	MB											0.313**	0.379**
	TF											0.154	0.574**
Rw	SWG												0.595**
	MB												0.694**
	TF												0.431**
Note: Hn, height at the end of neck; Hc, height to the rump; Hb, height to the breast; Bl, body length; Bw, breast width; Td, the thorax depth; Tc, thoracic circumference; Sc, shank circumference; Hl, head length; Dbe, distance between eyes; Rw, rump width; Rl, rump length; W, weight.
*Measurements with significantly different (P<0.05).
**Measurements with significantly different (P<0.01).

Figure 2.  Head side view and coat colour (%) of the Majorera Breed, Tinerfeña breed* and semi wild goat.

*The coat colour of Tinerfeña breed is not represented, because all goats are black as it is recorded in the standard breed.

Figure 3.  Principal component analyses of Majorera Breed (1) vs. semi wild goat (2) vs. Tinerfeña breed (3).

Capote , J , Delgado , JV , Fresno , M , Camacho , E and Molina , A . 1998 . Morphological variability in the Canary goat population . Small Ruminant Research , 27 : 167 – 172 .

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar