The Booroola is a Merino strain that has a high rate of multiple births. Booroola's prolificacy was studied extensively by New Zealand researchers, who provided one of the first examples of the practical application of gene mapping in sheep, by mapping the Booroola gene to chromosome 6 .

History

The Booroola Merino was started by Jack and Dick Seears of Booroola, Cooma using ewes from their Egelabra flock that gave multiple-births. The Seears gave the

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...

a quintuplet ram in 1958, another in 1959 and a

sextuplet A multiple birth is the culmination of one multiple pregnancy, wherein the mother gives birth to two or more babies. A term most applicable to vertebrate species, multiple births occur in most kinds of mammals, with varying frequencies. Such bi ...

ewe in 1960. In 1958, the CSIRO purchased 12 ewes ( triplets or quadruplets) and a ewe who had given birth to triplets. When the Booroola flock was dispersed in 1965, the CSIRO purchased 91 mixed-age multiple-born ewes and moved their Booroola flock from Deniliquin to Armidale. The Egelabra and Mumblebone strains of the Merino can be traced to Gamboola; these were derived from Samuel Marsden's flock, and like Macarther's flock, Marsden's flock was based on South African

Escurial Escurial is a municipality located in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin) ...

, Cape and Bengal Sheep. The Bengal was a prolific sheep imported from Calcutta.

History

Notes

References

Further reading