No Morphologic Differences in Microtic Ewes from Guatemala

A sample of 39 native ewes belonging to different flocks, from different local communities of the Quetzaltenango Department in W Guatemala, were weighed and measured for thoracic girth, ear length, cannon perimeter, face length and head length. From this sample, 9 (23.0%) animals were microtic (ear length between 5 and 7 cm). Microtic ears presented a striking difference in size, and in all cases detected both outer ears were size-reduced and abnormally shaped. Anotia was not detected in any case. Principal Component Analysis allowed the clustering of both groups (microtic and “normal” eared animals), but differences were only based on ear length, the general conformation being similar for both. There is therefore no sense in culling microtic animals from breeding.