Abstract
Abstract Abstract: This study aimed to morphometrically characterize Libyan Barbary sheep across four distinct geographical regions (eastern, western, central, and southern) to determine if they constitute a single population. Data were collected on ten qualitative and eleven quantitative traits from 853 rams and 3008 ewes. Libyan Barbary sheep are characterized by a white coat, a brown or black head, a straight nose, and the absence of a beard and wattles, females are hornless, while males have curved or spiral horns. Ears are mostly pendulous. The results show highly significant differences between regions and between males and females within the same region. The average for quantitative traits, including head length, horn length, wither height, chest girth, canon circumference and body length, ear length, staple length, tail length, teat length and scrotum circumference were 11.9, 56.52, 72.65, 92.14, 8.33, 72.06, 13.92, 8.29, 42.55, 2.63 and 29.8 cm., respectively. Analysis of variance revealed significant effects of both region and sex on the measured traits. Variance component analysis indicated high within-region variability for all traits. Head length, body length, wither height, and chest girth exhibited greater discriminatory power between subpopulations. All pairwise comparisons between regions were statistically significant (P < 0.001), with distances ranging from 0.8 to 3.62. Canonical discriminant analysis confirmed significant differences between the groups based on linear combinations of the measured variables. Despite their geographical dispersion, these sheep populations demonstrate remarkable phenotypic similarities. While the current findings suggest they may belong to a single population, further molecular genetic analysis is necessary to de-finitively confirm this.