[Position of Russian chicken breeds in the diversity of Eurasian breeds].

Eleven old Russian, four Mediterranean, and nine Asian chicken breeds were compared with the wild species Gallus gallus (red jungle fowl) by 31 discrete morphological characters. The majority of the characters studied show monogenic inheritance. Five large clusters can be detected on a dendrogram constructed on the basis of the morphological characters of the studied breeds. Almost all breeds characterized by their a similar practical use (egg, meat/egg, meat, game, and ornamental) were included in the same cluster independently of their geographical origin. Close morphological and genetic relations of Mediterranean breeds to the wild species Gallus gallus was confirmed. A wide typological diversity of old Russian breeds was shown; five types of breeds were found among them. Russian breeds were joined in the same clusters with similar types of breeds of Mediterranean or Asian origin. However, 10 out of 11 studied Russian breeds were found to be more closely related to Asian breeds. Thus, it may be suggested that the gene pool of old Russian was formed largely under the influence of Asian breeds and, to a lower extent, Mediterranean breeds.