Researchers from Somali National University’s Centre for Excellence in Camel Research and Development, working with collaborators in Italy, Australia and at the University of Sydney, surveyed 472 mature dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius) across five regions of south and central Somalia: Banadir, Bay, Galgaduud, Gedo and Lower Shabelle. The sample included 188 males and 284 females, all between eight and fifteen years old, drawn from herds identified through local pastoral networks. Their findings, published in the journal Pastoralism, provide the first systematic quantitative description of four ecotypes that Somali pastoralists have long recognised: Hoor, Aiden, Gellab and Sifdacar.

The team recorded eighteen linear body measurements on each animal—ranging from facial length and interorbital distance to neck length, thoracic girth, hump dimensions and foot-pad circumference—following the FAO framework for phenotypic characterisation of animal genetic resources. Qualitative traits such as coat colour, hair type, ear size and udder conformation were documented alongside the morphometrics. Because direct weighing facilities were unavailable in the field, live body weight was estimated using a barymetric equation combining shoulder height, thoracic girth and abdominal circumference, a standard approach that the authors caution yields approximate rather than exact values.

The results validated indigenous knowledge with striking precision. Among breeding males aged eight to eleven years, Aiden bulls were the heaviest, with an estimated mean body weight of 430 kilograms, while Sifdacar males stood tallest at the withers at 161 centimetres and displayed the longest faces at 57 centimetres. In the older male cohort, aged twelve to fifteen, Aiden remained dominant at roughly 501 kilograms, whereas Sifdacar males averaged just 362 kilograms—yet retained their distinctive elongated skeletal frame, including the widest interorbital distance at 34 centimetres. Gellab animals often showed pronounced thoracic and shoulder measurements, and Hoor females were characterised by relatively large udders and teats, consistent with pastoral perceptions of a dairy-oriented type.

Qualitative observations reinforced the picture of four recognisable morphological profiles. Sifdacar camels stood apart with a highly uniform light grey to greenish-grey coat—described in the study as having an aloe vera-like hue—while Hoor, Aiden and Gellab animals displayed diverse palettes of brown, red, grey, black and white. Hoor animals carried medium-to-long hair and larger mammary traits; Aiden and Gellab generally had larger ears; and hump orientation differed, with Gellab and Sifdacar humps tending to lean slightly backward.

To test whether these univariate differences held up in a multivariate view, the researchers standardised all eighteen traits and applied principal component analysis, linear discriminant analysis and k-means clustering. The first two principal components explained 31.6 percent of total variance, with PC1 loaded primarily by hump circumference, height at withers, hump height, ear length and tail length, and PC2 associated with body weight, thoracic girth, facial length and limb measurements. The ecotypes occupied partially distinct regions of morphometric space, but with substantial overlap at the individual level. Discriminant analysis with five-fold cross-validation achieved 54.2 percent classification accuracy, and unsupervised clustering aligned only weakly with the pastoral labels—a pattern the authors attribute to the mobility of pastoral systems, where routine sire exchange and herd mixing maintain phenotypic continuity even as recognisable local profiles persist.

Then came the twist. Despite clear morphological divergence, milk production barely differed among the ecotypes. Daily milk offtake, reported by herders over a one-to-two-day recall period and standardised by container type, ranged from a mean of 7.24 litres per day in Gellab to 7.70 litres in Hoor, with Aiden at 7.34 and Sifdacar at 7.25 litres. The overall ecotype effect was statistically non-significant at P = 0.814, and individual yields overlapped widely—Hoor cows showed the broadest spread, from five to thirteen litres per day. The authors stress that these figures represent owner-reported human offtake rather than total biological production, since calf suckling, residual milk and full lactation output were not directly measured.

This near-identical milk performance carries an important message for camel science and Somali livestock policy alike. Dromedary milk yield is shaped by a web of interacting factors—parity, stage of lactation, nutrition, watering frequency, calf management, season, health status and general husbandry—and under extensive pastoral conditions, environmental and management variation appears to swamp any subtle ecotype-related differences. The recorded yields of 7.2 to 7.7 litres per day align with performance ranges reported for extensively managed dromedaries across the Horn of Africa, though the authors caution against direct cross-study comparisons because definitions of extracted volume and saleable yield vary. The Hoor ecotype’s numerically highest mean is directionally consistent with pastoral perception, but the data cannot establish intrinsic dairy superiority for any type.

The study also speaks to a broader paradigm in contemporary camel genetics: distinct phenotypic differentiation does not automatically imply isolated genetic lineages. Genomic evaluations of East and North African dromedaries show that pastoralist-defined breeds can be morphometrically distinct while maintaining high within-population diversity and evidence of historical admixture—a direct consequence of herd mobility and collective grazing boundaries. Somali camels should therefore be understood as phenotypically differentiated pastoral types rather than strictly closed genetic populations, and publicly available Somali-specific genomic datasets capable of resolving these ecotypes remain unexploited.

The findings establish a foundational morphometric and production baseline with direct applications. Somali camels should not be managed as a single undifferentiated population in national agricultural planning; ecotype-aware breeding strategies must balance selection for economic traits against preservation of adaptive fitness under climate stress; and genetic improvement must remain grounded in indigenous knowledge, since pastoral communities are the primary long-term custodians of these specialised resources. The authors propose systematic nationwide screening to identify elite sires through progeny testing—assessing daughters’ performance—as the basis for community-based breeding programs, supported by large-scale recording of milk production, reproduction and management parameters. Future work should combine longitudinal, directly measured milk records with standardised phenotypic protocols and molecular benchmarking, potentially aided by digital phenotyping tools such as structured udder scorecards, calibrated imaging and three-dimensional scanning. For now, the study demonstrates that Somali herders’ finely honed classifications encode genuine biological diversity—morphologically distinct biocultural resources shaped by ecology, selection and culture—even as the practical path to more camel milk runs through better nutrition, watering access, veterinary care and herd management rather than ecotype identity alone.

Subject of Research: Phenotypic diversity and milk production performance of Somali camel ecotypes under extensive pastoral systems

Article Title: Phenotypic diversity and milk production performance of Somali camel ecotypes under extensive pastoral systems

Article References: Mohamed, S. A., Mumin, D. H., Shurie, A. A., Mohamud, A. M., Farah, H. M., Abdullahi, A. A., Hassan, H. M., Khatkar, M. S., Ali, A. A., & Thomson, P. C. (2026). Phenotypic diversity and milk production performance of Somali camel ecotypes under extensive pastoral systems. Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice, 16, Article 16713. https://doi.org/10.3389/past.2026.16713

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3389/past.2026.16713

Keywords: Phenotypic, diversity, milk, production, performance, Somali, camel, ecotypes, under, extensive, pastoral, systems