Glossary
This Glossary page will be continually updated.
Agistment
Agistment or ‘to agist’ means an animal is looked after and fed on someone else’s property other than the owner’s property for a fee. Many alpaca breeders offer this service, and it is very common when a person buys a stud service, for the Hembra (female) being mated, to agist at the farm where the covering sire lives, until such time as a pregnancy is confirmed. The Alpaca Association website offers base agistment contracts for people wishing to enter into an agreement for agistment on their download page.
Alpaca
An alpaca is a South American Camelid from the family Camilidae. For a better understanding of Alpacas we recommend reading our Breed Type and Understanding Alpacas as a Species pages. These pages give you the opportunity to read about and to see pictures of the family Camilidae. All of our animals are alpacas, and there are several photos displayed on the Our Alpacas Huacaya page.
Anatomy
Anatomy is very simply put, to be the understanding of the functions of organs and structures in the body. In this case the body of the Alpaca.
Antibody
Antibodies or immunoglobulins are a type of protein that are found in the blood and other bodily fluids of vertebrates, and are used by the immune system of the body to identify and neutralize foreign objects, such as bacteria and viruses. Antibodies are made up of structural units which contain light chains. The elliptical red blood cells of camelids do not contain a light chain and are therefore being researched in the search for a cure for cancer and other diseases.
Apron
The apron is the chest area of an alpaca, below the neck and this is an area where coarser fibre and/or guard hair can be found. Selective breeding is being used to reduce the coarser fibre in this area and to produce alpacas whose fine fibre bundles or locks are consistent in size, length and fineness across the whole body. See this diagram of an alpaca to locate the Apron.
Artiodactyla
Artiodactyla is the name given to Even Toed Ungulates. Artiodactyla are ungulates that bear their weight when moving on the toes of the 3rd and 4th metatarsal. For a more detailed breakdown see our article Understanding Alpacas as a Species.
Backcross
A Backcross, generally referred to with a number, i.e Backcross 1, Backcross 2, refers to when an animal that is a hybrid of two species or two breed types is bred to a non hybrid that has genetic similarity to one of the parents. For example a Huacaya alpaca bred to a Suri alpaca creates a F1 hybrid of the two breed types. As the Suri gene type appears to be dominate over the Huacaya, the F1 will display a Suri Phenotype. In other words it will look like a Suri (of varying quality). Its genotype however will have 50% Suri genes and 50% Huacaya Genes, half from each parent. When the F1 hybrid is mated it will have a 50% chance of throwing either it’s Suri or Huacaya gene to its offspring (Cria). Therefore those people who wish to increase the Suri population by crossing to Huacayas, will then mate the F1 to a full Suri, in an attempt to achieve a higher likelihood of offspring with genetics that are suri. The resulting offspring of a F1 suri cross mated to a full Suri is called a Backcross 1, meaning the hybrid has been mated back to the Suri line, in an attempt to achieve a higher likelihood of offspring with genetics that are closer to that of the Suri regardless of the phenotype.
Bactrian
Bactrian is a type of camel called the Bactrian Camel, it has two humps as opposed to the Dromedary which as one hump. Please see our Breed Type page to view pictures of these animals.
Bloodlines
Bloodlines refers to the parentage (maternal and paternal) of the alpaca and the names of those parents which may have had an influence in the phenotype displayed by the alpaca in question. Some breeders refer to these as genetics, but we prefer to separate bloodlines from genetics. On the Our Alpacas pages, we will list any well known bloodlines that we consider significant in the breeding of that alpaca.
Bonnet
The Bonnet or bob is the fleece on the head of the alpaca. See this diagram of an alpaca to locate the Bonnet.
Bundles
Bundles is a term used to indicate fibre that has grouped itself into a clearly defined staple with a tip on the end and doesn’t separate without a level of force. See this picture showing bundles.
Caecum
The caecum is a pouch connecting the ascending colon of the large intestine. It is used by hindgut fermenters to store food that is then attacked by gut bacteria. Alpacas and all camelids do NOT digest their food in this manner and do not have a caecum.
Camel
Camel refers to the Dromedary and Bactrian Camels, which are relatives of the Alpaca, and along with Llama, Guanaco and Vicuna, form part of the family Camelidae. Photos of the two Camels are available on the Breed Type page.
Camelid
See Camelidae
Camelidae
Camelidae is the biological family name for Camelids, the only living family in the suborder Tylopoda. Camelids include Alpaca, Llama, Vicuna, Guanaco, Bactrian Camel and the Dromedary Camel. Pictures of family Camelidae can be found on our Breed Type page.
Cannon Bone
In Camelids the cannon bone is the fused 3rd and forth metatarsals of the foot. The metatarsals have fused to make the resulting cannon bone stronger then the two thinner and weaker metatarsals. In Camelids the cannon bone is fused only partly with the two ends splaying into a Y shape giving the alpaca it’s slayed two toes. For more detail and diagrams read the Understanding Alpacas as a Species article.
Conformation
Conformation refers to the structural arrangement of the alpaca body.
Covering Sire
Covering Sire is the term used to describe the Macho (Male) that a Hembra (female) has been or is being mated to. It is used during the process of mating for record keeping and especially when the Hembra is confirmed pregnant. It is crucial that good record keeping is kept to ensure the accurate identity of the covering sire, so the resulting cria’s parentage can be correctly identified.
Cria
A cria is a baby alpaca. A cria is called a cria until it is one year old and then it is called a Tui.
Crimp
Crimp refers to the wave in a fibre staple or bundle. Whether fibre requires any crimp, how much crimp, whether it should be deep, bold, etc is all up for debate in breeding circles.
Croup
Croup is the part of the alpaca between the back and the rump. See this diagram of an alpaca to locate the croup.
Cuboid
The cuboid is a small bone in the foot or ankle see Understanding Alpacas as a Species for a diagram showing this bone.
