Exactly. Mutations occur in both the wild and in domesticity. I believe the
main difference is that most (or all) color mutations decrease their chances of
survival in the wild (white coloration for instance), whereas in domesticity
they survive perfectly well, and reproduce.
ANDREA SPIEGLE wrote:
> You probably don't see those colors in the wild because any non-agouti
> colors that showed up would be more easily killed by predators, as they
> wouldn't blend in to the surrounding sand. It's the same thing with a
> lot of albino animals, they are either more easily noticed by their
> predators and are eaten, or they're seen by their prey and can't eat.
>
> Mary Elizabeth Chang wrote:
> >
> > Would someone be so kind as to educate me on this. To me, it seems logical
> > that gerbils have been bred with something to bring about all the colors
> > that we see now. Were lab or home raised agoutis bred with other species
> > to bring colors to the bloodlines? When reading about the discovery of
> > gerbils in the wild, I don't recall reading any descriptions of black,
> > white, or other colors.
> >
> > ~Mary
> >
> > >
--
Tana and The Little Rascals
http://members.home.net/tlr-gerbilry
