Phylogenetic Relationships of Sheep Populations from Coastal Areas in East Asia

Using the method of random sampling in typical colonies of the central area of the habitat and several electrophoresis techniques, the variations of 12 structural loci encoding blood protein of 60 Small-tailed Han sheep were examined and compared with those of four other sheep populations from coastal areas in East Asia to explore their phylogenetic relationships. Average heterozygosity of the five populations was: Kharkhorin sheep 0.3447, Ulaanbaatar sheep 0.3285, Small-tailed Han sheep 0.3157, Hu sheep 0.3884, and Cham Tribe sheep 0.2300. The earlier researchers' conclusion through documentary research, indicating that Small-tailed Han sheep and Hu sheep both evolved from Mongolian sheep, was further verified by the results of this study. Hu sheep, Small-tailed Han sheep, and Cham Tribe sheep were decreasingly affected by the bloodline of Mongolian sheep. A partial founder population, i.e., Mongolian sheep forming current Small-tailed Han sheep, possibly made a contribution to the bloodline of Cham Tribe sheep.