I wonder about the use of the term pied for these dark spotted gerbils, and
the way you describe the difference between patched and pied on your web
site. The gerbils I have, that seem healthy, are just barely spotted,
whereas the ones you've been seeing you've called pied, presumably because
of the large amount of white on the body.
I wonder if there might be a connection between the amount of white
spotting and the deleterious effects of the dark mosaic pattern? My
Verence, who has several dark spots in different places, has only a small
amount of white on his head. His DPP offspring also has just a mark on the
head and a small collar, but hasn't been bred yet (eyes still closed ;) ) A
patched rather than a pied, in other words. The pictures on your web site
show gerbils with much more white than my two, and you said there were
multiple problems with their offspring. Any thoughts on this line of
reasoning? I will be breeding the youngster with a relative and a
non-relative to see what happens. I plan to stay with the dove/lilac colors
to simplify things.
Thanks,
Rebecca...
At 11:11 PM 5/15/00 +0100, Julian and Jackie wrote:
>Rebecca Allbritton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote
>
> >In my litter of 4 babies that Magrat (sapphire) and Vernece (DPP) had on
> >4/26, there are two REW and what looks like a dove and a dove DPP - who
> >definitely has white spotted markings, making it actually... what? Does a
> >spotted lilac look like a dove?
> >
> >There seems to be a definite link between the Sp gene and the Dark spotting
> >in these gerbils. All in this litter are normal sized and healthy.
> >
> >Rebecca Allbritton
>
>
>I agree. I have not seen any gerbils with these dark spots which are not
>pied. Pied lilacs often look dove coloured due to the diluting effect of
>the genes that cause spotting. I believe it is most likely a form of
>mosaicism. Parts of the animals are genetically pied, other parts are
>not.
>
>At the weekend at the Knagerfestijn I saw what looked like a more
>extreme form of mosaicism. A pied that was a very light DEH with a large
>irregular patch that looked similar to Polar Fox.
>
>
>--
>Julian
>
>************************************************************************
>* Jackie and Julian *
>* [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
>* National Gerbil Society *
>* http://www.gerbils.co.uk/ *
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