Biometric study of Criollo Santa Elena Peninsula cattle (Ecuador)

Biometric characterization is useful in describing cattle breeds, distinguishing between them and assessing their diversity. The Criollo Santa Elena Peninsula (Ecuador) breed was described with a biometric analysis of 217 adult animals (198 females and 19 females) involving fourteen morphometric variables, live weight and fourteen morphometric indices. An analysis of variance was run with only sex as the variation factor. Pearson correlation coefficients were estimated and principal components analysis run based on variable residuals. A multivariate analysis was then run to differentiate between four Ecuadorian Creole cattle populations with a canonical discriminant analysis. This involved fourteen morphometric variables and live weight in a sample of 1,388 adult females (Lojano: 198; Manabi: 794; Santa Elena: 198; Tsachilas: 198). The results indicate the Criollo Santa Elena Peninsula breed has a normal tendency and an intermediate body format compared to other creole breeds. It is dolichocephalic type, has sublongilinear body proportions and a fine skeleton (particularly in females), highlighting its suitability for dairy production. Overall, the studied population exhibited moderate homogeneity and harmony, with moderate to high sexual dimorphism, suggesting different genetic management of the sexes. The discriminant function significance levels in conjunction with the Mahalanobis and Euclidean distances indicate that each breed in the analysis has a distinct morphometric pattern, suggesting clear morphometric differentiation between the four populations.