However, some of the historical lines have survived thanks to the efforts of several groups of traditional breeders who decided to continue selecting individuals for their wool quality, rusticity, and fertility in closed herds, just as they had been bred over the previous 200 years. As a result, several ancient Spanish genetic lines disappeared as these herds were turned exclusively to the production of commercial meat. Some breeders began to use foreign breeds with higher meat aptitude to cross with native Merino mother populations which were not being bred in purity. In Spain, the economic crisis of the 1960s saw a shift in the selection criterion towards meat production instead of wool production. In more modern times, Merino and their derived breeds have become cosmopolitan. The dispersal of Merino sheep in Eastern Europe also started in the 18th century, and during the 19th century, the Merino breed was also exported to Australia and New Zealand. In addition, other breeds were derived from Merino stocks and developed as mutton breeds, such as the French Ile de France and Berrichon du Cher. The resulting animals had fine wool, and they spread over centuries throughout the Iberian Peninsula and other parts of the world, such as Southern Italy (15th century) or Germany and France (18th century), where the Merinolandschaf and Rambouillet breeds were founded. According to the most widely accepted theory, the breed was established in the Iberian Peninsula by the Romans through the crossbreeding of three breeds of sheep from North Africa, Italy (Tarentum), and the Iberian Peninsula. However, the origin of the Merino breed is a hotly debated topic, for which several theories have been proposed. The Spanish Merino sheep is considered the most important breed worldwide not only for its history, census, and expansion, but also for its role in the influence of the appearance of new and/or derived breeds. All this demonstrates the rich genetic variability existing in the genuine gene pool of the Merino sheep breed. Furthermore, the distances between the lines, calculated by a cluster test, showed that Hidalgo, Maesso, and Donoso had the most clearly defined lines, while the Granda, López-Montenegro, and Egea lines were more similar to each other. Using discriminant analysis, 84% of the animals were classified correctly into their historical genetic lines. Significant differences were found in all the morphometric traits and indexes between the different genetic lines. All the animals were descendants of herds from six ancestral genetic lines (Maesso, Egea, Granda, López-Montenegro, Hidalgo, and Donoso). In the present study, we used 337 purebred animals (males and females) registered in the Genealogical Book of the Native Merino Breed. For this reason, it is of vital importance to typify the historical genetic lines of the original Spanish Merino breed and thereby ensure the conservation of its variability. WONDER WOMAN and all related characters and elements © & ™ DC Comics.The Merino breed, which originates from Spain, is the most emblematic livestock breed in the world, since it is the first with a worldwide extension and has had an important impact on the genetic origin of several of the main current sheep populations. SUPERMAN and all related characters and elements © & ™ DC Comics. SUPERGIRL and all related characters and elements © & ™ DC Comics. SCOOBY-DOO and all related characters and elements © & ™ Hanna-Barbera. LOONEY TUNES and all related characters and elements © & ™ Warner Bros. JUSTICE LEAGUE and all related characters and elements © & ™ DC Comics. (s22)īATMAN and all related characters and elements © & ™ DC Comics. © ICEE is a federally registered trademark.ĪQUAMAN and all related characters and elements © & ™ DC Comics. The Welch’s name and banner are registered trademarks of Welch Foods Inc., A cooperative. © 2022 The Promotion In Motion Companies, Inc. M&M’S, the SNICKERS logo and the parallelogram design, 3 MUSKETEERS, DOVE, MILKY WAY and TWIX are trademarks of Mars or Affiliates. “Coca-Cola”, “Coca-Cola Freestyle”, the Red Disk Icon and the Contour Bottle design are registered trademarks of The Coca-Cola Company. SIX FLAGS® and all related indicia are trademarks of Six Flags Theme parks, Inc.TM © 2022.įright Fest ® and Holiday in the Park ® are registered trademarks of Six Flags Theme Parks Inc.
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