The five Northern European short-tailed sheep breeds present in North America are the Finnsheep, Romanov, Icelandic, Shetland and Gotland. The Finnsheep and Romanov were first imported in 1966 and 1986, respectively, for their high reproductive performance. The Shetland, Icelandic and Gotland breeds were first imported in 1980, 1985 and 2005, respectively, for the uniqueness of their physical a...

In dogs, meningiomas and gliomas appear to occur most frequently. Most primary brain tumors are solitary, but multiple primary brain tumors have been reported. Secondary or metastatic tumors appear to be less common and may result from local extension (e.g. nasal adenocarcinoma) or metastases from primary tumors elsewhere. Skull tumors may affect the brain by local extension. Although brain tum...

There is considerable interest in locally adapted breeds of livestock as reservoirs of genetic diversity that may provide important fitness traits for future use in agriculture. In marginal areas, these animals contribute to food security and extract value from land unsuitable for other systems of farming. In England, close to 50% of the national sheep flock is farmed on grassland designated as...

Many dog breeds are bred specifically for increased performance in scent-based tasks. Whether dogs bred for this purpose have higher olfactory capacities than other dogs, or even wolves with whom they share a common ancestor, has not yet been studied. Indeed, there is no standard test for assessing canine olfactory ability. This study aimed to create a simple procedure that requires no pre-trai...

BACKGROUND The Icelandic horse is a pristine breed of horse which has a pure gene pool established more than a thousand years ago, and is approximately the same size as living and extinct wild breeds of horses. This study was performed to compare the length of the skeletal growth period of the "primitive" Icelandic horse relative to that reported for large horse breeds developed over the recent...

Information on genetic structure and variability of livestock breeds is critical for efficient conservation plans. Here we present molecular characterization of 5 Indian grey colored cattle breeds from northern and western parts of India on the basis of 21 FAO recommended microsatellite markers. Kankrej breed has its native tract in the state of Gujarat, Tharparkar, Nagori and Mewati in Rajasth...

This review compiles the results of 21 genomic studies of European Bos taurus breeds and thus provides a general picture of the selection signatures in taurine cattle identified by genome-wide selection-mapping scans. By performing a comprehensive summary of the results reported in the literature, we compiled a list of 1049 selection sweeps described across 37 cattle breeds (17 beef breeds, 14 ...

ABSTRACT This study aimed to investigate the impact of pig breed on stress levels and meat quality in two commercial farms north-eastern part Romania. One farm raised 52 Mangalita pure-bred pigs other 82 Duroc x Landrace crossbred pigs. Serum cortisol, a biomarker stress, serum glucose were measured before after slaughtering, while pH was at 45 minutes 24 hours post-mortem. Results showed that ...

The origin of Iberian cattle has been suggested by some authors to be the product of European and north African cattle entrances during the last few thousands of years. However, these hypotheses were mainly based on morphological similarities. This study analyzed 889 unrelated individuals from 15 representative Iberian breeds and 3 French breeds for 16 microsatellite loci. Statistical tests wer...

BACKGROUND The tendency for male-larger sexual size dimorphism (SSD) to scale with body size - a pattern termed Rensch's rule - has been empirically supported in many animal lineages. Nevertheless, its theoretical elucidation is a subject of debate. Here, we exploited the extreme morphological variability of domestic dog (Canis familiaris) to gain insights into evolutionary causes of this rule....