Retrospective of variability of body length of sables in natural and farm populations

Body size is a typical quantitative trait, the development of which depends on both genetic factors and the external environment. As a more stable indicator of the two characteristics by which the size of an animal is estimated (body weight and length), body length is the main one. The article presents a retrospective comparative analysis of the body length of sables in natural and farm populations. Data are provided on the variability of this sables indicator in their natural habitat and on farms, starting from the 30s to the present. Printed and handwritten scientific publications, information collections, and plans of fur farms for breeding work were used to collect information on the results of measuring the body length of sables in the wild and on farms. We have found that for more than fifty years of breeding on farms, the body length of males has a statistically significant difference. At the same time, this indicator in female sables has remained virtually unchanged over the specified period. The existing significant potential for breeding work in the direction of increasing size is evidenced by the high variability in body length of sables in different years on different fur farms