Pedigree Terminology

 

The notation methods used to identity an alpaca and its lineage can be a little confusing when first encountered.  In order to better understand how this information is coded, lets take as an example, an alpaca with the identification as shown below.  The explanation of the individual terms follows.

 

 

A.L. Paca's

Peruvian

Iamnotallama

(USA,

White,

123456)

    
           

"123456" is the registration number of this alpaca.  The Alpaca Registry Incorporated (ARI), maintains our country's alpaca registration database.  This number is also referred to as the ARI Number. (top)

    

"White" is the primary color of the blanket of this alpaca.  Less predominate secondary and tertiary colors can also be identified and listed as the second and third colors.  For example, a black alpaca with a white face should be shown as TB/WH ("True Black/White").

Here are the ARI color codes:

WH - White

BG  - Beige

LF, MF, DF - Lt, Med, & Dark Fawn

LB, MB, DB - Lt, Med, & Dark Brown

BB - Bay Black (black with brown influences)

TB - True Black (no brown or other color)

LSG, MSG, DSG - Lt, Med, & Dark Silver Grey

LRG, MRG, DRG - Lt, Med, & Dark Rose Grey

(top)
       

"USA" means this alpaca was born in the USA.  Some of the other possible countries of origin include Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Australia, New Zealand, and Germany. (top)

    
     

The full (real) name of the alpaca in this example is "A.L. Paca's Peruvian Iamnotallama".  The abbreviated name is Iamnotallama.

Each full name must be unique.   For example, there might be an alpaca by the name of "Smith Farms Blackie" and another by the name of "Jones Ranch Blackie".   Smith Farms and Jones Ranch are the breeder identifiers which makes Blackie a unique alpaca name in the ARI registration database for each of these two breeders.

As shown above, "A.L. Paca's" and "Peruvian" are the additional identifiers used in this alpaca's name.

Some people think it is difficult to name a few children.  Well, imagine trying to appropriately name several dozen alpaca babies a year! (top)

    

The word Peruvian is used here to indicate this alpaca's full heritage is from Peru.  Other words commonly used are Chilean (for an alpaca of full Chilean heritage), Bolivian (full Bolivian heritage), and Accoyo (to indicate an alpaca who's full heritage is from the famous Accoyo farm in Peru).

Although the word Peruvian is used here to show this alpaca is of 100% Peruvian heritage, it can get slightly confusing as the word Peruvian was also used to identify an alpaca imported from Peru.  In this later case, there would not be a breeder identifier in the alpaca's name. 

There were a total of 7 importations of alpacas from Peru before imports were closed.  The importers used the following method to identify alpacas brought in during each of the imports.

Name

Import Number

Name

Import Number
Peruvian 1 4Peruvian 4
Pperuvian 2 5Peruvian 5
Ppperuvian 3 6Peruvian 6
    CPeruvian 7, Canadian
     

  (top)
 

"A.L. Paca's" is the breeder identifier for this alpaca.  This is the name of the breeder, farm, or ranch, who owned the dam at the time of conception.  As shown in this example, A.L. Paca's owned Iamnotallama's mother when Iamnotallama was conceived.  Since A.L. Paca's made the breeding decision, we are the breeder, and the ARI will allow us to put our breeder identifier on Iamnotallama's ARI certificate.  Our farm uses either A.L. Paca's or ALP which is just a TLA (three letter acronym) for our farm. (top)

    

 

Pedigree Example
 

· Grandfather, the alpaca's father's father
 

· Father (Country of Origin, Primary Color/Secondary Color, ARI Number)
 

· Grandmother, the alpaca's father's mother
 

A.L. Paca's Peruvian Iamnotallama (USA, White, 123456)
 

· Grandfather, the alpaca's mother's father
 

· Mother (Country of Origin, Primary Color/Secondary Color, ARI Number)
 

· Grandmother, the alpaca's mother's mother

 

Shown to the right is an Alpaca Registry Incorporated (ARI) certificate for one of our herdsires (Peruvian Eclipse).  The certificate shows that Eclipse descends from full Peruvian lineage.  His sire "4Peruvian Midnight Express 6000" was imported from Peru during the 4th Peruvian import.  His dam "4Peruvian Brillante 6690" also came in during this same import.  The certificate lists both sire and dam as TB (True Black) in color.  This color is very rare for alpacas from Peru which are almost entirely white or fawn in color.

 

Although you will see the information on the ARI certificate is formatted a little differently than shown in our Pedigree Example above, the information presented is basically the same.  We have just rearranged some items to make the lineage more easy to read on a web page. (top)

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