Abstract
Abstract. A total of 183 adult sires belonging to nine West African cattle breeds sampled in 67 villages of Mali, Burkina Faso and Benin were assessed for 16 body measurements and 18 qualitative traits. Within type of cattle (zebu, sanga or taurine), the different breeds analysed showed large differences in body measurements. In general, taurine breeds had lower average values than the zebu breeds while sanga cattle tended to have intermediate values. Principal component analysis identified three factors characterising body measurements. Factor 1 summarised the information provided by those traits characterising the size of the individuals and explained 59.0 % of the variability. Factor 2 tended to gather information characterising the body width and explained 8.0 % of the variation. Less representative, Factor 3 (6.6 % of the variability) had no clear interpretation. Qualitative traits did not allow to distinguish among either cattle groups or breeds. Two Correspondence Analysis Dimensions computed on qualitative traits (explaining 26.2 and 15.5 % of the variability, respectively) did not allow to differentiate between zebu, sanga or taurine cattle breeds. Our results confirm that, in the framework of a general appearance, body measurements are the main criteria for differentiating West African cattle breeds. Furthermore, the current research has not allowed to identify breeding preferences on qualitative type traits in West African cattle sires. Therefore, homogenisation of the appearance of individuals within cattle breed is not expected.
Highlights
Morphological characterisation of animal populations is usually carried out within sex to avoid bias due to sexual dimorphism
A total of 183 adult sires belonging to nine West African cattle breeds sampled in 67 villages of Mali, Burkina Faso and Benin were assessed for 16 body measurements and 18 qualitative traits
We have recently assessed variation in body measurements and qualitative type traits in a total of 1015 adult cows belonging to nine West African cattle breeds to ascertain the existence of geographical patterns of morphological variation (Traoré et al, 2015)
Summary
Morphological characterisation of animal populations is usually carried out within sex to avoid bias due to sexual dimorphism. In livestock, such studies are mainly carried out on females due to their larger numbers (Bene et al, 2007; Ndumu et al, 2008; Traoré et al, 2008a, b). We have recently assessed variation in body measurements and qualitative type traits in a total of 1015 adult cows belonging to nine West African cattle breeds to ascertain the existence of geographical patterns of morphological variation (Traoré et al, 2015). Even though breeds are usually considered the operation units for the assessment of livestock diversity, definition of native African cattle further needs to consider other criteria such as areas of spreading or cattle type (Soudré, 2011). Due to the existence of strong gene flow among populations, there exist various sanga cattle breeds assumed to result from ancient
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