Lineal Discrimination of Horses and Mules. A Sympatric Case from Arauca, Colombia.
Abstract: This is the first morphological comparative study between local horses and mules from Arauca, Colombia. It was realized to compare morphological traits between both species by analysing 15 adult mules (7 males and 8 females) and 150 adult horses (137 males and 13 females), with an age interval from 2 to 22 years. Data consisted of 24 different body quantitative traits which can explain the body conformation: thoracic circumference, body length (BL), thoracic depth and width, withers height (WH), sternum height, shoulders width, chest width, forelimb cannon perimeter and length, head length and width, skull length and width, face length and width, ear length and width, loin height, croup height (CrH), width and length, dock height (DoH), and hock height. Heart girth circumference, body length, withers height, croup height, and dock height were the most discriminative traits, showing statistical differences between species. The formula is X = (BL × 0.402) + (WH × 0.323) + (CrH × 0.352) + (DoH × 0.384). A value of X > 184.5 assigns with total certainty that a skeleton belongs to a horse, and if X < 174.0, it is a mule. The proposed formula has a 100% specificity but a 71.4% sensibility for mules and an 84.4% for horses into the rank of 174.0-184.5. Therefore, results demonstrate that some postcranial anatomical elements of could give enough information for a bone differentiation between horses and mules, at least in animals from the Araucan region, but the main interest is that it reflects the possibility to differentiate morphometrically both species from bone remains when horses and mules were sympatric.
Publication Date: 2020-04-13 PubMed ID: 32294995PubMed Central: PMC7222724DOI: 10.3390/ani10040679Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
Summary
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This study carried out a detailed comparative morphological analysis between local horses and mules in Arauca, Colombia. Using a range of quantitative body traits, the researchers established a mathematical formula that could differentiate a horse from a mule with a high degree of accuracy, specifically when considering the postcranial anatomical elements.
Objective and Process
- This research was intended to differentiate horses from mules based on their anatomical structure, specifically using quantitative body traits.
- Morphological traits from 15 adult mules (7 males and 8 females) and 150 adult horses (137 males and 13 females) were examined.
- These animals ranged in age from 2 to 22 years providing a wide range of samples across various stages of development and maturity.
Data and Traits
- The research examined 24 unique body traits to elucidate the body conformation. These included thoracic circumference, body length, thoracic depth and width, withers height, among others.
- Five traits (heart girth circumference, body length, withers height, croup height, and dock height) were deemed the most discriminative, showing statistical differences between the two species.
Results and Outcomes
- The study culminated in a mathematical formula: X = (BL × 0.402) + (WH × 0.323) + (CrH × 0.352) + (DoH × 0.384).
- Using this formula, if the resulting X is greater than 184.5, it indicates with certainty that the sample belongs to a horse. If X is less than 174.0, it denotes a mule.
- The formula exhibited 100% specificity but had a sensitivity of 71.4% for mules and 84.4% for horses within the range of 174.0 to 184.5.
Conclusion and Implications
- The results demonstrate that several postcranial anatomical elements offer sufficient information to differentiate between horses and mules, especially for animals from the Araucan region.
- Importantly, the study indicates the potential to fractionate the two species morphometrically from bone remains when they cohabitate in the same geographical area.
Cite This Article
APA
Salamanca-Carreño A, Jordana J, Crosby-Granados RA, Bentez-Molano J, Parés-Casanova PM.
(2020).
Lineal Discrimination of Horses and Mules. A Sympatric Case from Arauca, Colombia.
Animals (Basel), 10(4), 679.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10040679 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Grupo de Investigaciones los Araucos, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, Arauca 810001, Colombia.
- Department de Ciència Animal i dels Aliments, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
- Grupo de Investigaciones los Araucos, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, Arauca 810001, Colombia.
- Grupo de Investigaciones los Araucos, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, Arauca 810001, Colombia.
- Departament de Ciència Animal, Universitat de Lleida, 25198 Lleida, Spain.
Grant Funding
- ID 2378-I / Cooperative University of Colombia
Conflict of Interest Statement
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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This article includes 10 references
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Citations
This article has been cited 2 times.- Salamanca-Carreño A, Parés-Casanova PM, Crosby-Granados RA, Vélez-Terranova M, Bentez-Molano J. Basicranial Modular Organization. A Study in the Araucanian Horse of Colombia. Vet Sci 2023 Mar 28;10(4).
- Salamanca-Carreño A, Parés-Casanova PM, Rangel-Pachón DE, Bentez-Molano J, Vélez-Terranova OM. No Morphological Integration of Dorsal Profiles in the Araucanian Horse (Colombia). Animals (Basel) 2022 Jul 5;12(13).
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