“…Although aspects related to space and time savings have been mentioned as advantages of early selection (LAMBETH, 1980;REZENDE et al, 1994;WU, 1998;PIRES et al, 2011), its usagee has mainly aimed to reducing the selection cycle duration (LAMBETH, 1980;MCKEAND, 1988;MATHESON et al, 1994;MCKEAND et al, 2006;DEAN, 2008), reducing the required time for evaluation and selection, and maximizing the genetic gain per time unit (year) (REZENDE et al, 1994;LAMBETH;DILL, 2001;GONÇALVES et al, 2005;DEAN, 2008;PIRES et al, 2011.). Thus, in early selection, traits evaluated in the previous rotation ages are used as predictors of traits economically important in rotation age (RESENDE, 1995;DEAN, 2008;PIRES et al, 2011).…”