Abstract
An osteometrical study of 89 selected parts of the pelvic limb bones was carried out in 13 breeds of fowl including the red jungle fowl. The data obtained were subjected to a principal component analysis, and the morphological differences between the 13 breeds were compared. The results were as follows: (1) Based on the first principal component (size factor), these birds were classified into (A) a small-size group including the red jungle fowl and Sebright Bantam, (B) an intermediate-small-size group including the White Leghorn S, Fayoumi, Brown Leghorn and Shokoku, (C) an intermediate-large-size group including the Nagoya Y, Australorp, Nagoya K, White Leghorn B, Tokarajidori and Taiwanjidori, and (D) a large-size group consisting of the Rhode Island Red. (2) With respect to the second principal component (shape fector), these birds were classified into (A) a slender-type group consisting of the red jungle fowl, (B) an intermediate-type group including the Australorp, Sebright Bantam, Nagoya Y, Nagoya K, Taiwanjidori, Tokarajidori, White Leghorn S, Shokoku and White Leghorn B, and (C) a thick-type group including the Brown Leghorn, Fayoumi and Rhode Island Red, (3) In all breeds, the skeleton was larger in males than in females. (4) The Brown Leghorn is the closest to the Fayoumi in terms of the size and shape, the Taiwanjidori is the closest to the Tokarajidori in terms of the size and shape. (5) On the basis of the principal component chart, the Red Jungle Fowl was clearly distinguished from the domestic fowls. (6) In the present study, the variables obtained from 89 measurements were subjected to a principal component analysis. The following parameters were considered useful in distinguishing fowl body size and shape : The maximum length of the pelvis (without pubis), length from the cranial border of the ilia to the spinae iliocaudales, minimum breadth of the partes glutaeae, breadth between the borders of the acetabula, breadth across the two antitrochanter, maximum length of the femur, maximum length from the caput femoris, maximum length of the tibiotarsus, axial length of the tibiotarsus, diagonal of the proximal end of the tibiotarsus and maxinum length of the tarssometatarsus.
