Quelle:Where Did My Greyhound Come From?
All of our modern greyhounds are descended from UK greyhounds who competed in the formal coursing events that became extremely popular after the repeal of the Forest Laws.
John Henry Walsh (aka "Stonehenge"), in his treatise on the breed (called The Greyhound, circa 1851), mentions five distinct types of greyhounds that were known to have once existed, by the areas from where they came, and who differed in looks and aptitude, due to the specific, local terrain over which they hunted and coursed after game.
Walsh refers to them as the Newmarket, Yorkshire, Scottish, Wiltshire and Lancashire Greyhounds, and apparently they ranged in size from what would resemble a larger, modern whippet, to dogs that had size and scope comparable to a modern Borzoi---and in aptitudes, from smaller, very nimble greyhounds who were capable of chasing swiftly over rough, less open terrain, to greyhounds who had great length of stride, and stamina, and who were more suited to chasing after game in wide, open spaces.
Formal coursing competitions promoted inter-breeding among all these types of greyhounds, until the greyhound with whom we are familiar had emerged.
Our modern sires and sire lines (the top line of a pedigree) all trace back to one of two dogs----Pilot, who is the earliest known taproot of almost all sires today, and Wilby, who may still be represented by just a few viable, modern sires, if any remain at all.
Now if you follow the sire lines of other dogs within a pedigree, you will come upon other taproot greyhound sires. But we denote the sire line from which a greyhound descends, by the top line of his/her pedigree. And today's greyhounds all trace their topline lineage directly to one of two foundation sires.
The female family to which a greyhound belongs, is determined by the very bottom line of a pedigree---as that is the line that carries the mitochondrial DNA to offspring. There are many more extant, foundation females than there are viable sire lines, and many more viable female families, than just our two remaining sire families.
In a very real sense, and especially in our contemporary world of greyhound population contraction, it is the female lines and female families that provide the greyhound with its critical genetic diversity.
Any experienced breeder can tell you that a good dam is worth her weight in gold, and that a good dam will produce excellent offspring from a variety of sires. Females of this quality are sometimes referred to as "blue hens".
Throughbred racehorse pedigrees all note what female family the subject belongs to. These female families are all numbered so that breeders and aficionados can simply tell by the number next to the horse's name, which family he/she is a member of.
Like our greyhounds today, most Thoroughbred sire lines trace back to two single ancestors, namely the Godolphin Arabian (or as he was once known, the Goldolphin Barb) and the Darley Arabian. It is much less common to find a modern pedigree with a top line tracing to the Byerly Turk, another once prolific foundation sire and sire line.
Also, as with the greyhound, there are dozens of still productive female families providing genetic diversity.
copyright, 2021
Dennis McKeon 2021