BASIC COLOUR GENETICS
There are five main sets of genes that will determine how your rabbit appears.
Each parent will pass on one of its set of genes (alleles) to its off-spring. If both are the same it is called (homozygous), for example double agouti 'AA'. If they are different it is called (heterozygous) for example agouti carrying otter 'Aat'.
There is an order of dominance in each set of genes. The colour we see is called a phenotype, the gene sequence we don't see is called the genotype.
Below the most dominant gene is at the top of the list the most recessive at the bottom.
Each parent will pass on one of its set of genes (alleles) to its off-spring. If both are the same it is called (homozygous), for example double agouti 'AA'. If they are different it is called (heterozygous) for example agouti carrying otter 'Aat'.
There is an order of dominance in each set of genes. The colour we see is called a phenotype, the gene sequence we don't see is called the genotype.
Below the most dominant gene is at the top of the list the most recessive at the bottom.
A locus - pattern
'A' will show agouti varieties.
Agouti patterned rabbits are normally banded (banding means that the hair shaft is broken down into segments of colour, this can be described as rings of colour when you blow into the coat).
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The colours below are examples of agouti banded rabbits. Most agouti rabbits will also have common markings of white bellies, eye cirlcles, under jaw, tail, nose markings. |
However, confusingly, agouti rabbits that are also non extension 'ee', lose the appearance of banding. These agouti non extension rabbits can be distinguished from their self varieties by the presence of a white belly, eye circles, under jaw, nose markings and white inside ears. These colours include: |
Another non banded group includes the Japanese brindled varieties (harli and magpie). These however will NOT have the usual agouti markings (white bellies, eye circles etc). |
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agouti AABBCCDDEE (black banded)
cinammon AAbbCCDDEE (chocolate/ brown banded) opal AABBCCddEE (blue banded) lynx AAbbCCddEE (lilac banded) chin AABBcchdcchdDDEE (chinchilla banded, no yellow) squirrel AABBcchdcchdddee (blue chinchilla banded, no yellow) |
orange (black orange) AABBCCDDee
orange (chocolate orange) AAbbCCDDee fawn AABBCCddee wheaten or choc fawn AAbbCCddee |
black harli AABBCCDDejej
brown harli AAbbCCDDejej blue harli AABBCCddejej lilac harli AAbbCCddejej black magpie AABBcchdcchdDDejej brown magpie AAbbcchdcchdDDejej blue magpie AABBcchdcchdddejej lilac magpie AAbbcchdcchdddejej |
Another common unbanded colour includes frostie points (all of which are unstandardised). All frostie points must be AA & ee (agouti and non extension). The C locus is variable being either cchd (chin), cchl (sable) or ch (himi) dominant. They can come in BBDD (black), bb (brown/ choc), dd (dilute/blue) and bbdd (lilac) variations.
All sable varieties of agouti are undstandardised.
'at' is the tan pattern.
All tan pattern rabbits have white bellies, white tails, white eye circles and a white jaw and nose (the same as agouti patterned rabbits). The belly will be edged with ticking. However the body of colour is more alike to that of a self rabbit.
The term we use to describe the tan pattern is dependant on what is dominant on the C locus, as the pattern reacts in different ways depending on what it is paired with.
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C is OTTER- this will include tanning (yellow/ orange) where white markings meet the body of colour.
black otter atatBBCCDDEE choc otter atatbbCCDDEE blue otter atatBBCCddEE lilac otter atatbbCCddEE |
cchd is FOX- white markings only on a chinchilla based rabbit.
black fox atatBBcchdcchdDDEE choc fox atatbbcchdcchdDDEE blue fox atatBBcchdcchdddEE lilac fox atatbbcchdcchdddEE |
cchl is MARTEN- white markings only on a sable based rabbit.
marten sable atatBBcchlcchlDDEE marten smoke atatBBcchlcchldddEE |
'aa' is a self rabbit.
A self rabbit is the same colour all over, unless shadings or colour distribution is altered by the C or E locus.
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Self varieties.
black self aaBBCCDDEE choc self aabbCCDDEE blue self aaBBCCddEE lilac self aabbCCddEE |
Shaded self varieties (altered by C locus)
sallander/ iron grey aaBBcchdcchdDDee seal point aaBBcchlcDDee blue point aaBBcchlcddee medium siamese sable aaBBcchlcDDEE dark siamese sable aaBBcchlcchlDDEE siamese smoke aaBBcchlcddEE himi aaBBchchDDEE choc himi aabbchchDDEE blue himi aaBBchchddEE lilac himi aabbchchddEE |
Non- extension self varieties (altered by e locus)
sooty fawn aaBBCCDDee choc tort aabbCCDDee beige aaBBCCddee lilac tort/ cream aabbCCddee |
B locus - black/ brown pigmentation
'B' is black
Black hair (NOT chocolate/ brown), these black rabbits can include:
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Agouti based blacks:
agouti AAABBCCDDEE steel AABBCCDDEsEs chin AABBcchdcchdDDEE orange AABBCCDDee |
Tan based blacks:
black otter atatBBCCDDEE black fox atatBBcchdcchdDDEE marten sables aaBBcchlc/cchlcchlDDEE |
Self based blacks:
siamese sables aaBBcchlc/cchlcchlDDEE black self aaBBCCDDEE sooty fawn aaBBCCDDee iron grey aaBBcchdcchdDDee seal point aaBBcchlcDDee black himi aaBBchchDDEE |
'b' is brown
Brown hair (chocolate/ havana). These can include:
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Agouti based browns:
cinammon AAbbCCDDEE choc orange AAbbCCDDee |
Tan based browns:
chocolate otter atatbbCCDDEE chocolate fox atatbbcchdcchdDDEE |
Self based browns:
chocolate self aabbCCDDEE chocolate tortoiseshell aabbCCDDee choc himi aabbchchDDEE |
Chocolate and dilute combined creates lilac varieties:
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Agouti based lilacs:
lynx AAbbCCddEE wheaten AAbbCCddee |
Tan based lilacs:
lilac otter atatbbCCddEE lilac fox atatbbcchdcchdddEE |
Self based lilacs:
chocolate self aabbCCddEE lilac tortoiseshell/ cream aabbCCddee lilac himi aabbchchddEE |
C locus- yellow pigment
'C' is full colour exhibiting full black and full yellow
These include:
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agouti AABBCCDDEE
cinammon AAbbCCDDEE opal AABBCCddEE lynx AAbbCCddEE orange AABBCCDDee (choc) orange AAbbCCDDee fawn AABBCCddee wheaten (choc fawn) AAbbCCddee |
black otter atatBBCCDDEE
choc otter atatbbCCDDEE blue otter atatBBCCddEE lilac otter atatbbCCddEE |
black self aaBBCCDDEE
choc self aabbCCDDEE blue self aaBBCCddEE lilac self aabbCCddEE sooty fawn aaBBCCDDee choc tort aabbCCDDee beige aaBBCCddee lilac tort/ cream aabbCCddee |
'cchd' is dark chinchillaration (or 'chin')
Chinchilla removes yellow and will show chinchilla & fox. These include:
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chin AABBcchdcchdDDEE
squirrel AABBcchdcchdddEE |
black fox atatBBcchdcchdDDEE
chocolate fox atatbbcchdcchdDDEE blue fox atatBBcchdcchdddEE lilac fox atatbbcchdcchdddEE |
sallander/ iron grey aaBBcchdcchdDDee
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'cchl' is light chinchillaration (or 'sable')
All yellow is removed and the strength of the black is weakened to a sepia colour e.g. sealpoint & sable. These include:
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Tan black:
dark marten sable atatBBcchlcchlDDEE medium marten sable atatBBcchlcDDEE Tan dilute (blue): medium marten smoke atatBBcchlcddEE |
Self black:
dark siamese sable aaBBcchlcchlDDEE light siamese sable aaBBcchlcDDEE Self dilute (blue): medium siamese smoke aaBBcchlcddEE |
Self non-extension black:
seal point aaBBcchlcDDee Self non-extension dilute (blue): blue point aaBBcchlcddee |
'ch' is himialayan
No matter what the colour it will only show on the points as in Californian/Himalayan. These include:
himi aaBBchchDDEE
choc himi aabbchchDDEE
blue himi aaBBchchddEE
lilac himi aabbchchddEE
choc himi aabbchchDDEE
blue himi aaBBchchddEE
lilac himi aabbchchddEE
'c' is albino
Red Eye White. This is known as a coloured rabbit wearing a white coat (masked). Suffice it to know you would need to test breed it to discover any number of genotypes which is being masked!
D locus - dilution
'D' is full strength of colour (black/ brown)
These include:
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agouti AABBCCDDEE
steel AABBCCDDEsEs chin AABBcchdcchdDDEE orange AABBCCDDee cinammon AAbbCCDDEE choc orange AAbbCCDDee |
black otter atatBBCCDDEE
black fox atatBBcchdcchdDDEE marten sables aaBBcchlc/cchlcchlDDEE chocolate otter atatbbCCDDEE chocolate fox atatbbcchdcchdDDEE |
siamese sables aaBBcchlc/cchlcchlDDEE
black self aaBBCCDDEE sooty fawn aaBBCCDDee iron grey aaBBcchdcchdDDee seal point aaBBcchlcDDee black himi aaBBchchDDEE chocolate self aabbCCDDEE chocolate tortoiseshell aabbCCDDee choc himi aabbchchDDEE |
'd' is dilution of colour (blue/lilac)
These include:
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opal AABBCCddEE
fawn AABBCCddee squirrel AABBcchdddEE lynx AAbbCCddEE wheaten AAbbCCddee |
blue otter atatBBCCddEE
blue fox atatBBcchdcchdddEE lilac otter atatbbCCddEE lilac fox atatbbcchdcchdddEE |
blue self aaBBCCddEE
beige/ isabella aaBBCCddee blue himi aaBBchchddEE chocolate self aabbCCddEE lilac tortoiseshell/ cream aabbCCddee lilac himi aabbchchddEE |
E locus - expresses the extension of black pigment
'Es' is super extension (steel)
Enhances black. These include:
steel AABBCCDDEsE (light steel)
super steel AABBCCDDEsEs (dark steel)
super steel AABBCCDDEsEs (dark steel)
'E' is normal amounts of black
These include:
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agouti AABBCCDDEE
opal AABBCCddEE lynx AAbbCCddEE chin AABBcchdcchdDDEE squirrel AABBcchdcchdddEE |
black otter atatBBCCDDEE
choc otter atatbbCCDDEE blue otter atatBBCCddEE lilac otter atatbbCCddEE black fox atatBBcchdcchdDDEE choc fox atatbbcchdcchdDDEE blue fox atatBBcchdcchdddEE lilac fox atatBBcchdcchdddEE marten sable atatBBcchlccDDEE marten smoke atatBBcchccddEE |
black self aaBBCCDDEE
choc self aabbCCDDEE blue self aaBBCCddEE lilac self aabbCCddEE siamese sable aaBBcchlcDDEE siamese smoke aaBBcchlcddEE himi aaBBchchDDEE choc himi aabbchchDDEE blue himi aaBBchchddEE lilac himi aabbchchddEE |
'ej' is japanese brindling
These include:
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black harlie AABBCCDDejej
brown harlie AAbbCCDDejej blue harlie AABBCCddejej lilac harlie AAbbCCddejej |
black magpie AABBcchdcchdDDejej
brown magpie AAbbcchdcchdDDejej blue magpie AABBcchdcchdddejej lilac magpie AAbbcchdcchdddejej |
black tri AABBCCDDejej Enen
brown tri AAbbCCDDejej Enen blue tri AABBCCddejej Enen lilac tri AAbbCCddejej Enen |
'ee' is non-extension
Creates pointed rabbits, with the exception of agouti based. These include:
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orange AABBCCDDee
choc orange AAbbCCDDee fawn AABBCCddee wheaten (lilac fawn) AAbbCCddee |
sooty fawn aaBBCCDDee
choc tort aabbCCDDee beige/ isabella aaBBCCddee cream (lilac tort) aabbCCddee iron grey aaBBcchdcchdDDee seal point aaBBcchlcDDee blue point aaBBcchlcddee |