A comparison between 14 autochthonous french breeds of sheep using the archaism index method

Abstract

The archaism index method has been used to classify 14 autochthonous breeds of French sheep and two exotic breeds as related to the old stocking waves which spread over Western Europe. Ratings of discrete archaism (0-1, 0-1-2 or 0-1- 2-3-4, depending on the case) have been given to visible traits, the different expressions of which appeared successively after domestication. The 7 traits considered were ear length, horn development, presence of wattles, size, tail length, fronto-nasal profile and color. A comparison has been made using archaism indexes (sum of archaism ratings, variation interval 0-14) and correspondance analysis of the archaism ratings. Two breeds with a high archaism index (Ushant : 13 and Landais : 11) were situated geographically in the West of France and could be descended from a first stocking wave from the Middle East. This wave had shorttailed breeds from which are derived some North Atlantic and Scandinavian Breeds (e.g. Soay of the Museum). The other 12 autochthonous French breeds (Aure et Campan, Barégeois, Basco-béarnais, Bizet, Brigasque, French Alpine, Lourdais, Manech Black face, Manech Red Face, Mourerous, Velay Black and Solognot) had an archaism index of between 3 and 8. They are descended from the second stocking wave called « long thin-tailed ». Correspondance analysis showed two subwaves within this stocking wave : straightnosed, to which all breeds belong except Basco-béarnais and Brigasque, and hookednosed (Basco-béarnais and Brigasque) which had the lowest archaism index (3). The latter sub-wave appeared in Western Europe subsequent to the first one.