[Comparative analysis of morphologic traits in Mediterranean and Chinese chicken breeds. The problem of the origin of the domestic chicken].

The degree of similarity between chicken breeds of Mediterranean and Chinese origin, on one hand, and red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus), on the other, was determined with respect to 35 discrete morphological traits. The results confirm the similarity between Mediterranean breeds and the wild form of Gallus gallus, noticed by many authors, and demonstrate the considerable typological diversity of Chinese chicken breeds. As certain ancient Chinese breeds clustered with Mediterranean breeds and wild fowl, the conclusion was drawn concerning the existence in ancient times of a chicken originating in Asia but resembling the Mediterranean type. This fact and several archeological findings provide evidence that the archetypal domestic chicken was of the light egg type. Centers of the origin and formation of domestic chicken types proved to coincide with certain centers of the origin of cultivated plant varieties discovered by N.I. Vavilov.