Multivariate analysis of phenotypic differentiation in Bunaji and Sokoto Gudali cattle The study aimed at examining morphometric differentiation in two Nigerian breeds of cattle using multifactorial discriminant analyses. Ten morphological traits (withers height, rump height,chest circumference, body length, face length, tail length, rump length, head width, rump width and shoulder width) of 224 Bunaji and 87 Sokoto Gudali cattle were measured. The animals, which were aged 2.5−3.6 years, were subjected to extensive management system. The linear type traits of Sokoto Gudali cattle were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than those of their Bunaji counterparts, with the exception of body length and face length respectively. The stepwise discriminant analysis gave a better resolution as only three variables, rump width, withers height and face length were more discriminating in separating the two cattle breeds. The Mahalanobis distance (7.19) between the two cattle populations was high and significant, which is an indication that they belong to genetically different groups. This was complemented by the result of the Nearest Neighbour Discriminant Analysis, where 85.48% of Bunaji cattle were classified into their source population while 96.55% of their Sokoto Gudali counterparts were correctly assigned into their source genetic group. The present phenotypic information will be the basis for the establishment of further characterization, conservation and selection strategies for the two Nigerian breeds of cattle. Key words: cattle / breeds / morphological traits / discriminant analysis / characterization / Nigeria Multivariatna analiza fenotipskih razlik med "Bunaji" in "Sokoto Gudali" govedom V študiji smo z multivariatno diskriminantno analizo proučevali morfometrične razlike med dvema nigerijskima pasmama goveda. Merili smo deset morfoloških lastnosti (višina vihra, višina trupa, obseg prsi, dolžina telesa, dolžina glave, dolžina repa, dolžina trupa, širina glave, širina trupa in širina pleč) pri 224 živalih pasme "Bunaji" in 87 živalih pasme "Sokoto Gudali". Živali so bile v ekstenzivni reji, stare med 2,5 ter 3,6 leti. Izmerjene vrednosti za linearne lastnosti živali pasme "Sokoto Gudali" so bile statistično značilno večje (P < 0,05) kot pri živalih pasme "Bunaji", izjema sta bila le dolžina telesa in dolžina glave. Za doseganje boljše resolucije smo uporabili postopno diskriminantno analizo, ker so le tri spremenljivke, širina telesa, višina vihra in dolžina glave, omogočile zanesljivo ločevanje obeh pasem. Mahalanobijeva distanca (7,19) med obema pasmama je bila visoko statistično značilna, kar nakazuje, da populaciji pripadata različnim pasemskim skupinam. Te rezultate potrjuje tudi diskriminantna analiza najbližjih sosedov, kjer je bilo 85,48% "Bunaji" goveda razvrščenega v izvorno populacijo, medtem, ko je bil ta odstotek pri "Sokoto Gudali" pasmi še višji (96,55). Tako pridobljene fenotipske informacije bomo uporabili za še natančnejši opis , zaščito in oblikovanje rejske strategije obeh nigerijskih pasem gove...
