merino.df: Australian Merino sheep research dataset

In dmm: Dyadic Mixed Model for Pedigree Data

Australian Merino sheep research dataset

Description

A set of real data from an Australian Merino sheep research flock with a multi-generation pedigree, eight fixed effects, and 11 traits related to wool production.

Usage

data(merino.df)

Format

A data frame with 4449 observations on the following 22 variables.

Id

Identifier for individuals

SId

Identifier for sires of individuals

DId

Identifier for dams of individuals

Sex

A factor with levels M (male) F (female)

Yearbi

A factor: year of birth of each individual

YearSbi

A factor: year of birth of each individual's sire

YearDbi

A factor: year of birth of each individual's dam

Mob

A factor: each individual was reared in one of two grazing environments coded 1 and 2

Agem

A factor: each individual was measured at one of two ages coded 3 (12 months) and 9 (15 months)

Birwt

A numeric vector: weight at birth in Kg

Weanwt

A numeric vector: weight at weaning in Kg

Birls

A factor: litter size at birth coded as 1 and 2

Weanls

A factor: litter size at weaning coded as 1 and 2

Crimp

A numeric vector: staple crimp frequency in crimps per 2.5cm

Densty

A numeric vector: density of wool fibres on the skin surface in fibres per square mm

Diamtr

A numeric vector: average fibre diameter in microns

Yield

A numeric vector: wool yield as a percentage. The amount of clean wool as a percentage of the greasy weight of fleece

Bodywt

A numeric vector: weight in Kg at the time of wool measurement, that being either 12 or 15 months, see item Agem

Wrinkl

A numeric vector: a visual score for skin wrinkle

Length

A numeric vector: staple length in cm

Flcwt

A numeric vector: greasy fleece weight in Kg

Woolwt

A numeric vector: clean wool weight in Kg

Details

These data are intended to show the utility of dmm() for analysis of a multi-trait dataset with all the real world complications. The dataframe has identifiers which are NA or duplicate or alphanumeric, some base animals are missing, some traits and factors have missing values, and the eleven traits need to be in a matrix for multivariate analysis.

Source

These data were collected over the period 1950 to 1970 by CSIRO under the direction of Dr Helen Newton Turner. The dataset was recovered from the author's research files, and are used with permission from CSIRO.

References

These data form part of the set which were used to estimate genetic parameters in the publication: Brown,G.H. and Turner,Helen Newton(1968)Aust.J.Agric.Res.19:303-22

For a coverage of Australian Merino sheep research see : Turner,Helen Newton and Young,S.S.Y(1969) Quantitative Genetics in Sheep Breeding. Macmillan, Melbourne, 1969.

Examples

library(dmm)
data(merino.df)
str(merino.df)
rm(merino.df)
#
# there is a full analysis of this dataset in 'dmmOverview.pdf'.
#

dmm documentation built on Aug. 21, 2025, 5:57 p.m.