Merino: Difference between revisions

The three theories of the origins of the Merino breed in Spain are: the importation of north African flocks in the 12th century;<ref>{{cite book |last= Klein |first=J |year=1920 | title= The Mesta: A Study in Spanish Economic History 1273–1836 | publisher = Harvard University Press |pages=4–5}}</ref> its origin and improvement in [[Extremadura]] in the 12th and 13th centuries;<ref>{{cite book |last1= Braudel |first1= F |last2= translated Reynolds |first2= S |year=1995 |title= The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II: Volume I | publisher = Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn= 9780520203082 |page= 94}}</ref> the selective [[crossbreed]]ing of Spanish ewes with imported rams at several different periods, so that its characteristic fine wool was not fully developed until the 15th century or even later.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Rahn Phillips |first1= C |last2= Philips |first2= W D Jnr. |year=1997 |title= Spain's Golden Fleece: Wool Production and the Wool Trade from the Middle Ages to the Nineteenth Century | publisher = Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn= 9780801855184 |pages=40–1}}</ref> The first theory accepts that the breed was improved by later importation of north African rams and the second accepts an initial stock of north African sheep related to types from [[Asia Minor]], and both claim an early date and largely north African origin for the merino breed.<ref>{{cite book |last= Klein |first=J |year=1920 | title= The Mesta: A Study in Spanish Economic History 1273–1836 | publisher = Harvard University Press |pages= 4, 34}}</ref>

 

 

The third theory, that the Merino breed was created in Spain over several centuries with a strong Spanish heritage, rather than simply being an existing north African strain that was imported in the 12th century, is supported both by recent genetic studies and the absence of definitely merino wool before the 15th century. The predominant native sheep breed in Spain from pre-Roman times was the [[Churra|churro]], a homogeneous group closely related to European sheep types north of the Pyrenees and bred mainly for meat and milk, with coarse, coloured wool. Churro wool had little value, except where its ewes had been crossed with a fine wool breed from southern Italy in Roman times.<ref>{{cite journal |author= Ryder M L |year= 1983 |title= A survey of European primitive breeds of sheep |journal= Annales de Génétique et de Sélection Animale | volume= 13 |issue= 4 |pages= 381-418, at pages 404, 414-5|doi= 10.1186/1297-9686-13-4-381 |pmid= 22896215 |pmc= 2718014 }}</ref> Genetic studies have shown that the Merino breed most probably developed by the crossing of churro ewes with a variety of rams of other breeds at different periods, including Italian rams in Roman times, north African rams in the mediaeval period, and English rams from fine-wool breeds in the 15th century.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Ciani E, Lasagna E, D'Andrea M |year= 2015 |title= Merino and Merino-derived sheep breeds: a genome-wide intercontinental study. |journal= Genetics Selection Evolution| volume= 47 |issue= 64 |pages= 9–10|doi= 10.1186/s12711-015-0139-z |pmid= 26272467 |pmc= 4536749 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Pedrosa S, Arranz JJ, Brito N |year= 2007 |title= Mitochondrial diversity and the origin of Iberian sheep|journal= Genetics Selection Evolution| volume= 39 |issue= 1 |pages= 91–103 at pages 92,100|doi= 10.1186/1297-9686-39-1-91 |pmid= 17212950 |pmc= 2739436 }}</ref>