Skull variation in different breeds sheep from Balkan countries

The skull of domestic mammals is composed of two main parts; the cranium, or neurocranium that protects the brain and the facies (splanchnocranium), which encloses cranial parts of the digestive apparatus and the respiratory apparatus (N.A.V (2017), Constantinescu, 2018). Craniometry is common method used in the sex determination and classification of different taxonomic groups of Ruminants including subspecies, breeds, and genetic lines (Bärmann et al., 2013, Kobryńczuk et al., 2008, Krasińska et al., 2008). As in other animals, the shape and size of the sheep skull are also determined by breed and sex (Özcan et al., 2010, Jashari et al., 2021). It has been reported that the skull of the female is longer than that of the male, and the skull of meat sheep is larger than that of dairy sheep (Jashari et al., 2021, Nickel et al., 1986, Yilmaz and Demircioğlu, 2020). In addition, the skull reflects its species-specific functions (Thomason et al., 2001).

The Balkan Peninsula is a geographical and cultural region located in the south-east of Europe. It enjoys very rich and fertile agricultural soils. Besides the production of crops, livestock is an important regional resource. The sheep farming sector in these countries is also growing rapidly (Volk, 2010). The Sharri sheep is a triple production (milk-meat-wool) local breed of sheep found in North Macedonia. They live in mountainous areas and adapt to the cold mountain climate. Their fleece, face, and legs are white. (Dzabirski et al., 2013). The Bardhoka is one of the breeds that produce the most milk among Kosovo long-tailed sheep (Bytyqi et al., 2014). The Ruda sheep is bred in the mountainous regions of North-Eastern Albania (Kukovics and Kume, 2005). The Lara e Polisit is one of the autochthonous sheep breeds that are bred in the mountainous part of the northeastern region of Albania. This small sheep is very resistant to the harsh conditions of the mountain climate. The main purposes of its farming are the production of wool and milk (Kukovics and Kume, 2005). Dubska Pramenka is a sheep that lives and grazes in mountain pastures. Used for triple production (milk-meat-wool) like the Sharri sheep, this breed is popular in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Vazic et al., 2017). İvesi sheep, bred in the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey is used as a dairy sheep (Üstüner, 2007). The most geographically distant from the above-mentioned breeds is İvesi sheep. It occurs further south and east than other sheep. The northernmost sheep breed is Dubska Pramenka.

In traditional morphometric studies, the length, depth, and angular ratios between anatomical formations are examined by statistical methods (Rohlf and Marcus, 1993). However, these methods cannot provide a complete explanation in terms of shape. Geometric morphometric analysis is a more suitable method for shape analysis. With this method, all geometric information obtained from Cartesian coordinates can be analyzed (Slice, 2007). These coordinates can be 2 or 3-dimensional. 2D samples can be provided in the form of photographs or x-ray images (De la Barra et al., 2020, Duro et al., 2021, Gündemir et al., 2020, Gündemir et al., 2021). Interspecific taxonomy research or sex determination studies can be performed with the geometric morphometric analysis (Demiraslan et al., 2021, Demircioğlu et al., 2021, Pares-Casanova et al., 2020).

This study aims to examine this morphological diversity among the skulls of sheep breeds of some countries in the Balkan region by the geometric morphometric method.

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