Genetic Study of Muscovy Duck from Two Ecological Zones of Nigeria : Genetic and phenotypic study of Nigerian indigenous muscovy duck

Morphological differentiation i Significant morphological variations exist between the rainforest and the guinea savannah ecotype ii The rainforest ecotype was found to be heavier than the guinea savannah though not significantly iii. There was marked sexual dimorphism between sexes in all the ecotypes. iv. The principal component analysis of the morphostructural traits of the two sexes tend to display variation in traits associated with possible differences in index development as explained by the dimorphism that exists between the sexes. v. Seven out of the 12 morphological traits had discriminatory power to distinguish between the two ecotypes, providing bases for use of morphological traits in a selection programme towards improvement of the two ecotypes. vi. Mahalanobis D2 statistics clearly distinguish the two ecotype on the basis of morphological traits, providing sufficient evidence for morphological differentiation between the two ecotypes. 6.1.2 Productivity of the ecotypes Performance characteristics of the two ecotypes reveals the following: i Body weight was significantly higher in the guinea savannah ecotype between 0 to