Quantitative analysis of production traits in saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus): II. age at slaughter
- 7 November 2005
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics
- Vol. 122 (6), 370-377
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0388.2005.00549.x
Abstract
Crocodile morphometric (head, snout‐vent and total length) measurements were recorded at three stages during the production chain: hatching, inventory [average age (±SE) is 265.1 ± 0.4 days] and slaughter (average age is 1037.8 ± 0.4 days). Crocodile skins are used for the manufacture of exclusive leather products, with the most common‐sized skin sold having 35–45 cm in belly width. One of the breeding objectives for inclusion into a multitrait genetic improvement programme for saltwater crocodiles is the time taken for a juvenile to reach this size or age at slaughter. A multivariate restricted maximum likelihood analysis provided (co)variance components for estimating the first published genetic parameter estimates for these traits. Heritability (±SE) estimates for the traits hatchling snout‐vent length, inventory head length and age at slaughter were 0.60 (0.15), 0.59 (0.12) and 0.40 (0.10) respectively. There were strong negative genetic (−0.81 ± 0.08) and phenotypic (−0.82 ± 0.02) correlations between age at slaughter and inventory head length.Keywords
This publication has 8 references indexed in Scilit:
- Quantitative analysis of production traits in saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus): I. reproduction traitsJournal of Animal Breeding and Genetics, 2005
- Genetic and phenotypic (co)variances for growth and carcass traits of purebred and composite populations of beef cattleJournal of Animal Science, 1995
- Temperature‐dependent sex determination in crocodiliansJournal of Experimental Zoology, 1994
- Effects of Incubation Temperature on Crocodiles and the Evolution of Reptilian OviparityAmerican Zoologist, 1989
- An Examination of Crocodylus porosus Nests in Two Northern Australian Freshwater Swamps, with an Analysis of Embryo MortalityWildlife Research, 1983
- Growth of Juvenile Crocodylus porosus as Effected by Season of HatchingJournal of Herpetology, 1981
- Morphometric analysis of Crocodylus porosus from the north coast of Arnhem Land, Northern AustraliaAustralian Journal of Zoology, 1978
- Phenotypic, Genetic and Environmental CorrelationsBiometrics, 1961