Abstract

Spider lamb syndrome, also known as spider syndrome and more formally as ovine hereditary chondrodysplasia, is a homozygous recessive disorder affecting the growth of cartilage and bone in sheep. It is a semilethal trait, which is thought to have been first observed in the 1970s, and is most common in sheep of the Suffolk and Hampshire breeds. The mutation which causes spider lamb syndrome is found on ovine chromosome 6, and involves the inactivation of fibroblast growth factor receptor 3.

Afflicted animals may be visibly deformed at birth and unable to stand, or seemingly normal for the first 4 to 6 weeks of their lives.

The name derives from the limbs of afflicted animals being thin, elongated, and "spider-like".