Genomic selection signatures in Brazilian sheep breeds reared in a tropical environment

•Identification of alleles for traits of economic interest can help in the conservation and use of locally adapted breeds.•There is little information available on possible selection signatures in Brazilian hair sheep.•Breed differentiation centered on production, metabolism, stress response and cell cycle.•Brazilian breeds were seen to be divergent from all other breeds in the study.•Locally adapted tropical breeds are important sources of genes for thermotolerance.