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Twinning in Cattle¹

University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706

Abstract

The literature on genetic and environmental sources of variation in the incidence of twinning in cattle is reviewed. The possibility of selection for this trait is discussed. Judging from its low heritability, low repeatability and small variance, the trait would not appear to be a likely candidate. These factors, however, were weighed against the potential benefits and the likelihood of achieving a workable system of twinning by other methods. It was concluded that some portion of our experimental cattle resources should be allotted to selection studies of bovine twinning.

¹ Paper No. 1748 from the Laboratory of Genetics. Supported by the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, and by the Program Projects in Genetics, Grant No. GM15422, from the National Institutes of Health. Contribution from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

² Present address: Department of Animal Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington 05401.

³ I am grateful to Dr. H. W. Norton, University of Illinois, and Drs. A. B. Chapman and L. E. Casida, University of Wisconsin, for critical comments on a draft of this manuscript.