Genetic Variants Affecting Skeletal Morphology in Domestic Dogs

Extreme differentiation in skeletal morphology characterizes purebred dog breeds. This has allowed the utilization of breed-average measurements or breed characteristics as phenotypes in subsequent genetic analyses. Across-breed association analysis has positively identified a relatively small number of loci (<20) for stereotypical dog breed body size. In outbred populations and within breeds there appear to be additional body size variants. In...