California Agriculture

In 1983, a sheep breeder in Oklahoma noticed a ram with exceptional muscling, especially in the hindquarters. This ram, Solid Gold, was mated to normal ewes, and the condition was passed on to their offspring. Eventually the extra muscling was found to be due to a spontaneous mutation, a natural change in the animal's genetic code. Because the muscle hypertrophy (enlargement) is most pronounced in the hindquarters, the condition was named callipyge, a Greek word meaning “beautiful buttocks.” Needless to say, sheep breeders were immediately interested in the meat production potential of lambs carrying the callipyge gene.