A total of 344 pure animals, representing seven American and South European breeds (White Chiapas Blanca, Brown Chiapas Cafe, Black Chiapas Negra, Churra Badana, Churra da Terra Quente, Chilean Latxa, and Spanish Merino), were randomly sampled and wool evaluated for isoalcohol scouring yield, length, and proportion for each type of fiber (long-thick, short-thin, and kemp), average of fiber diameter, and F30 (percentage of fibers with a diameter of >30 micro m). The objective of this study was to characterize these breeds according to their wool traits. A low percentage of the phenotypic variability in the analyzed animals was due to differences among breeds, and that the largest part of that variability is due to differences within breeds. The obtained topology in the principal coordinates analysis showed the grouping of the three Chiapas breeds clearly separated, but the similarity with their original breed was only evident for Brown Chiapas Cafe. The three Chiapas sheep breeds must be regarded as clearly sympatric populations.Digital Object Identifier http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11250-012-0216-z
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