Comparison of two populations of Madagascar Zebu by biometrical genetic distances

Abstract

Mean measurements of shoulder height, scapulo-ischial length, thoracic perimeter, horn and ear lengths, hump height, hump short and large axes, made in two Madagascar Zebu populations (North/North-West and South/South-West), each one distant of 800 km, have been compared individually, as well as several indexes: gibbosity index b (hump height/shoulder height), auricular index g (ear length/shoulder height), body indexes r₁ and r₂. Trait by trait analysis does not show any difference between the Northern and Southern populations, as for the size (measured by the shoulder height) and the hump development (measured by the gibbosity index). By contrast, the horn is significantly longer, whereas the ear is shorter in the South. Genetic biometrical distances measured by the Mahalanobis D² are significantly different. According to the differences in the horn and ear developments, the Southern population may be more archaic than the Northern one. The former being possibly present earlier in the Island.