Abstract
Gestation length (GL) data of dromedary camels were analysed for the period from 2007 to 2018. The database of the largest dairy camel herds (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) was used in this study. The data of 4,084 camels included in the assessment were classified into six ecotypes (Emirati, Emirati cross, Black, Pakistani, Saudi-Sudanese and Saudi cross). The aim of the study was to describe the heritability of GL of camels and the breeding value (BV) of sires for this trait. The genetic parameters of GL were estimated by the General Linear Model method and two Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (BLUP) animal models as well. The mean (±SE) of GL of camels was 384.3 ± 0.2 days. The direct heritability of GL (0.26 ± 0.06-0.36 ± 0.08) was higher than the maternal heritability (0.00 ± 0.05-0.13 ± 0.06) obtained. The maternal permanent environmental effect (0.15 ± 0.05) was similar to the results estimated previously in dromedary camel, but higher than the data reported by relevant sources in other species. Based on the results of this study it can be concluded that the GL of dromedary camels is a species-specific value similar to that in cattle, which is less affected by the maternal influence. Considerable differences (16 days) exist among male dromedaries in their BV for the GL trait.
Highlights
AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE pCorresponding author
The objectives of this study were (1) to determine some genetic parameters, especially the heritability of Gestation length (GL) in dromedary camel, (2) to estimate the breeding value (BV) of male dromedaries for this trait, and (3) to compare the results obtained by different GLM and Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (BLUP) models using the world’s largest available dromedary camel dataset
When permanent environmental effect (PE) was included in the model (BLUP2), the h2m value was much lower (0.00 ± 0.05)
Summary
AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE pCorresponding author. Tel.: þ36 (83) 545 398. It is generally accepted that pregnancy length is less affected by environmental factors, so the heritability of this trait is typically moderate to medium or good (Bene et al, 2014). This might be the reason why GL in different farm animals (e.g. horses and cattle) has been studied recently mainly from the veterinary point of view for animal health aspects (e.g. the correlation between GL and bone development; Haywood et al, 2017), as well as for selection criteria. Research on the animal breeding or genetic aspects of this trait is rather limited in domestic animals (Rodrigues et al, 2020)
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