The prediction of producing desirable traits in offspring such as increased growth rate, or superior meat, milk and wool production, is a vital economic tool to the animal scientist. Covering the fundamental principles of the application of linear models for the prediction of genetic merit in livestock, this new edition is fully updated to incorporate recent advances in methods of genomic prediction for pure and cross-bred animals. It provides models for the analysis of main production traits as well as functional traits, and includes numerous worked examples. The book covers: - models of survival analysis, social interaction and sire and dam models; - advancements in the use of SNPs in the computation of genomic breeding values; - single step approaches to genomics; - genomic non-additive models; - temporal and genomic analysis of genetic change. Suitable for postgraduate students, researchers and lecturers of animal breeding, genetics and genomics, this established textbook provides a thorough grounding in both the basics and new developments of linear models and animal genetics.