Material and methodsThe data used refers to Morada Nova sheep bornbetween 2007 and 2011 and were obtained from an exist-ing database from Nucleus of Participatory Breeding ofMorada Nova Sheep. This Nucleus was formed until the endof 2006 by 11 flocks located in the municipalities of MoradaNova, Jaguaretama, Limoeiro do Norte and Sobral, all in thestate of Ceará, Brazil. The region is characterized by a hotand dry climate with an average annual rainfall of 713 mmand an average temperature of 27–33◦C.