Morphological analysis and subpopulation characterization of Ripollesa sheep breed

Abstract

The Ripollesa sheep breed is an important Spanish local breed mainly located in the Mediterranean mountains and cultivated plains of Catalonia, exploited under semi-extensive production systems and currently intended for meat production. The morphological characterization of the Ripollesa breed was carried out from the study of eight flocks representative of different subpopulations. A total of 224 Ripollesa ewes and 17 rams were recorded for their live weight and 12 morphological measures, which were used for calculating 12 zootechnical indexes. Differences (P < 0.05) between flocks and sexes were revealed for several measures. A principal component analysis was performed on the morphological measures and revealed two main principal components accounting for 47.6 and 12.3 percent of the inertia, being related to the frame (body size and live weight) and to withers height and ear length, respectively. The cluster analysis allowed differentiating among four subpopulations with relevant implications to be taken into account for the breed conservation programme. The observed differences could be attributable to geographic location, selective history, flock management and genetics. The estimated zootechnical indexes classified the Ripollesa sheep breed as a medium-sized and long-shaped body frame, with a marked orientation to meat production and with signs of adaptation to the environment.