Discriminant Analysis Approach in Morphometric Differentiation and Characterization of Serbian Autochthonous Goats

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Goat production is the least popular and most underrated livestock sector in the Republic of Serbia. Back in the 1950′s, goats were anathematized as being the ‘’destroyers’’ of the woods, and in 1954, the infamous Law on the Prohibition of Goat Keeping was implemented on the pretext of preserving the woods. This was unprecedented and never seen anywhere worldwide, but it led to the almost complete devastation of goats as it lasted for decades. Revitalization of the goat sector began decades later through the import of high-yield breeds such as French Alpine and Saanen goats. However, the autochthonous populations of goats that were on the brink of extinction are still to this day considered endangered. There is insufficient scientific data supporting goat production in Serbia, but there’s primarily a lack of relevant research concerning autochthonous breeds. The present study is an attempt to contribute to overall scientific research in the goat sector and particularly to goat genetic resources through their characterization, as recognizing, preserving, and encouraging the breeding of locally specific breeds is important from the standpoint of zootechnical, ethical, cultural, as well as scientific reasons. ABSTRACT: This study investigated the possibility of using morphometric measurements to differentiate the autochthonous Serbian White goat breed from Saanen and Balkan goats, which were used as sire and dam breeds in its creation. For this purpose, a multivariate discriminant analysis was used. A total of 11 morphometric traits were measured in 98 does of 3 breeds: Saanen (n = 28), Balkan (n = 28), and Serbian White (n = 42), aged 2 to 7 years, in 4 different locations. Univariate analysis of variance revealed a significant difference in body measurements of all three breeds, with Saanen goat being the largest in format and Balkan the smallest. Discriminant analysis extracted six out of eleven tested morphometric traits with the strongest discriminatory power: heart girth, head length, chest depth, head width, pelvic width, and body length. Mahalanobis distances were significant between all three genetic groups. The discriminant function correctly classified 95.24% of the Domestic White goats investigated to their source group. The classification accuracy of the function was cross-validated and indicated an overall success rate of 91.84%. The results of this research showed that there was a clear separation between Serbian White, Saanen, and Balkan goats. The present findings could help a more rapid field assessment of Serbian White goats.