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Geometric Morphometrics to the Study of Skull Sexual Dimorphism in a Local Domestic Goat Breed
Parés-Casanova PM*
Department of Animal Production, School of Agrifood and Forestry Science and Engineering, University of Lleida Av. Rovira Roure 191, 25198 Lleida, Catalunya, Spain
- *Corresponding Author:
- Parés-Casanova PM
Department of Animal Production
School of Agrifood and
Forestry Science and Engineering
University of Lleida, Av. Rovira Roure 191
25198 Lleida, Catalunya, Spain
Tel: +34973706460
Fax: +34973702874
E-mail: peremiquelp@prodan.udl.cat.
Received Date: July 13, 2015 Accepted Date: August 01, 2015 Published Date: August 10, 2015
Citation: Parés-Casanova PM (2015) Geometric Morphometrics to the Study of Skull Sexual Dimorphism in a Local Domestic Goat Breed. J Fisheries Livest Prod 3:141. doi:10.4172/2332-2608.1000141
Copyright: © 2015 Parés-Casanova PM. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
The existence of sexual dimorphism in the White Rasquera goat breed has long been known, with males being larger than females. However, no study so far has explored this dimorphism separately in its size and shape components. Here we analysed twenty-three skeletonized skulls from adult animals (11 males and 12 females) belonging to this breed by means of geometric morphometric (GM) methods using 7 landmarks on dorsal aspect. Differences observed between the sexes are size related, with males bigger than females. Shape is also an important component separating males from females. The difference in skull form between sexes may be interpreted in relation to extensive management styles of the animals: being under a low anthropogenic influence they tend to reinforce their natural sexual size dimorphism. This being the first known study to apply GM to a domestic goat breed, we advocate for further GM research in domestic breeds in order to have the possibility of comparing populations and easily exchanging information between research centres.
