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Post by lizzy on Nov 11, 2005 12:45:50 GMT -8
i'm curious now.
Most people on here do not call white gerbils with pink/red eyes albinos. I've heard that this is because you can't get albino gerbils and its "genetically fatal"??
could anyone provide a full explanation?
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Post by doomgerbiluk on Nov 11, 2005 13:13:11 GMT -8
The simple expalnation is that while various combinations of genes produce white gerbils with red or pink eyes these are not albinos and the albino gene has not yet appeared in gerbils.
We do not know what effect the albino gene would have on gerbils because it has not yet appeared.
The combinations that produce the white gerbils do so by fading out the various pigments in the fur and the eyes, albinos would just totally lack these pigments no matter what their other genes.
This is very simplistic and I suggest you read up on albinoism if you wish to understand it in more detail and more accurately.
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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Nov 12, 2005 3:42:12 GMT -8
The albino mutation (c) does not exists in Mongolian gerbils yet. This mutation has yet still to appear in gerbils. That is the reason you can't have albino gerbils.  About the C-locus: C = fully coloured c chm = burmese pattern, Chinchilla Medium (sometimes also refered with the symbol c B, but this symbol has been replaced by c chm around 2001 for genetic notation after this scientific paper in the Journal of Heredity). c H = himalayan (turns hairs into white) Future possible and likely new mutations on the C-locus: c = Albino - Totally lacking in pigment. c ch = Chinchilla - extreme dilution of yellow, but little dilution of black. Similar to g. This, when combined with at could allow for a white bellied black. Chinchilla Medium (c chm) is similar but has more diluting effect on black and acromelanistic (IE affects the body more than the extremities) |
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Post by lizzy on Nov 12, 2005 11:44:26 GMT -8
thanks very much!  |
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