The Cranial Morphometric and Morphologic Characteristics of Mehraban Sheep in Western Iran

3 Abstract: The morphology and morphometry of eight skulls of adult Mehraban, a native Iranian breed sheep, were examined. All morphometric data were expressed as mean ± SEM. In this breed, a skull weight of 214.29 ± 22.47 g, a skull length of 20.06 ± 1.71 cm, a cranial length of 11.98 ± 0.24 cm, a skull index of 53.57 ± 3.26, a cranial index of 52.76 ± 1.13, a facial index of 85.44 ± 1.89, an orbital index of 21.46 ± 0.68 and a cranial volume of 130.86 ± 11.55 ml were measured. In order to determine the likely relationship, if any, between the indices and skull length and skull width, correlation coefficients were computed. Cephalic index was negatively correlated with both length and width of the skull in Mehraban sheep. The neurocranium capacity was negatively correlated with skull length. The results were discussed in terms of the usage of morphologic and morphometric characteristics of skulls in several basic and clinical applications in Mehraban sheep industry.