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Morphometric indices of native sheep breeds of the Himalayan region of India using multivariate principal component analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2023

Nusrat Nabi Khan Open the ORCID record for Nusrat Nabi Khan [Opens in a new window] ,
Nazir A. Ganai ,
Tavsief Ahmad ,
Syed Shanaz ,
Ruksana Majid ,
Mohsin Ayoub Mir Open the ORCID record for Mohsin Ayoub Mir [Opens in a new window]  and
Shiekh Firdous Ahmad
Nusrat Nabi Khan*
Affiliation:
Division of Animal Genetics and Breeding, F.V.Sc & AH, SKUAST-K, Srinagar 190006, J&K, India
Nazir A. Ganai
Affiliation:
Division of Animal Genetics and Breeding, F.V.Sc & AH, SKUAST-K, Srinagar 190006, J&K, India
Tavsief Ahmad
Affiliation:
Division of Animal Genetics and Breeding, F.V.Sc & AH, SKUAST-K, Srinagar 190006, J&K, India
Syed Shanaz
Affiliation:
Division of Animal Genetics and Breeding, F.V.Sc & AH, SKUAST-K, Srinagar 190006, J&K, India
Ruksana Majid
Affiliation:
Division of Animal Genetics and Breeding, F.V.Sc & AH, SKUAST-K, Srinagar 190006, J&K, India
Mohsin Ayoub Mir
Affiliation:
Division of Animal Genetics and Breeding, F.V.Sc & AH, SKUAST-K, Srinagar 190006, J&K, India
Shiekh Firdous Ahmad
Affiliation:
Division of Animal Genetics, ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly 243122, UP, India
*
Author for correspondence: Nusrat Nabi Khan. Division of Animal Genetics and Breeding, F.V.Sc & AH, SKUAST-K, Srinagar 190006, J&K, India. E-mail: khannusratnabikhan@gmail.com
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Summary

This study was performed to analyze the morphometric traits and indices in 3000 animals of five registered sheep breeds in the Himalayan region under a multivariate approach. Data were recorded under field conditions with equal coverage of the five breeds, viz., Karnah, Gurez, Poonchi, Bakerwal and Changthangi on body length (BL), height at withers (HW), chest girth (CG), ear length (EL), and tail length (TL). Furthermore, four derived traits (indices) were studied, which included an index of body frame (IBF), an index of thorax development (ITD), a Baron–Crevat index (BCI), and an index of body weight (IBW). Multivariate principal component analysis (PCA) was undertaken on nine morphometric traits. Kaiser’s criterion was used to reduce the number of principal components for further analysis and interpretation. The adequacy of sampling was evaluated using Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) test and Bartlett’s test of sphericity. The mean BL ranged from 52.15 (Changthangi) to 71.13 (Gurez). The estimates of HW, CG, EL and TL were highest in Gurez (63.49), Bakerwal (84.82), Bakerwal (7.26), and Karnah (8.18) breeds, respectively. Among the derived traits, the highest IBF was observed in the Gurez breed with an estimate of 112.22. Upon multivariate PCA on the dataset, the first four principal components were able to explain 92.117% of the total variance. The KMO test, Bartlett’s test of sphericity and estimated communalities showed the appropriateness of PCA on the evaluated traits. Four eigenvalues were greater than one and were extracted for further analysis. Morphometric traits were highly correlated, except for EL and TL that showed lower correlation estimates with other traits. The Changthangi population showed the lowest estimates of BL, HW, CG and rectangular body frame. The present study ascertained important morphometric traits/indices that can help in developing selection criteria and formulating sustainable breeding and conservation plans vis-à-vis the unique sheep breeds of the temperate Himalayas.

Keywords

Bartlett’s testHimalayan regionKMO testMorphometric traitsPCA
Type
Research Article
Information
Zygote , Volume 31 , Issue 2 , April 2023 , pp. 157 - 162
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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