Markings are generally characterized by any sort of coat pattern that is displayed above or on top of the base coat color. Markings are broken down based on which locus they appear on in the phae genome.
The Countershading Locus
The countershading locus will never cover more than 70% of the base coat.
Minimal Countershading – nCs
Minimal countershading is transparent in color, with the dorsal line being a shade darker than the base coat and the underline a shade lighter than the base coat. It can also cause dappling.
Maximum Countershading – CsCs
Maximum countershading is expressed as primarily dark dorsal markings and primarily light underline markings. These can reflect any sort of cervid’s and some bovidae’s natural dark top-line and light underline type markings, such as the kudu, white tail deer, roe deer, gazelle, antelope, reindeer, black buck, springbok, bontebok and oryx.
Minimal Reverse Countershading – nRc
Minimal reverse countershading is transparent in color, with the dorsal line being a shade lighter than the base coat and the underline a shade darker than the base coat. It can also cause dappling.
Maximum Reverse Countershading – RcRc
Maximum reverse countershading is expressed as primarily light dorsal markings and primarily dark underline markings. These can reflect any sort of cervid’s and some bovidae’s natural markings, such as the kudu, white tail deer, roe deer, gazelle, antelope, reindeer, black buck, springbok, bontebok and oryx.
Combined Countershading and Reverse Countershading – CsRc
Combined countershading and reverse countershading is expressed by primarily light or dark markings (two shades of light or two shades of dark) with origin at either the top- or under-line. Markings may extend from one line to the other at the neck, head, belly and rear legs.
- Countershading Locus | nCs/nRc Appendix
- Countershading Locus | CsCs/RcRc Appendix
- Countershading Locus |CsRc Appendix
The Fawn Locus
Carrier: none
Minimum Fawn Spots – nFwn
This gene is characterized by fawn spots falling on the shoulder, body and rump of a phae.
Maximum Fawn Spots – FwnFwn
This expression is characterized by fawn spots falling on the cheek, neck, shoulder, body and rump of a phae.
Minimum Kudu – nFwk
This expression is characterized by light kudu stripes falling on the shoulder, body and rump of a phae.
Maximum Kudu – FwkFwk
This expression is characterized by light kudu stripes falling on the neck, body and rump of a phae.
Minimum Rosette – nFwt
This expression is characterized by rosettes falling on the shoulder, body and rump of a phae.
Maximum Rosette – FwtFwt
This expression is characterized by rosettes falling on the cheek, neck, shoulder, body and rump of a phae.
Fawn Spot and Kudu Interaction – FwnFwk
This expression is characterized by light kudu stripes falling on the shoulder, body and rump of a phae with fawn spots intermingled with the stripes or combined with the stripes to create a spotted stripe appearance.
Combined Fawn Spot and Kudu Gene Overview
Fawn Spot and Rosette Interaction – FwnFwt
This expression is characterized by elongated blocks of markings intermingled with fawn spots. These markings tend to be blocky and slightly geometric in shape, but always appear organic with rounded edges.
Combined Fawn Spot and Rosette Gene Overview
Kudu and Rosette Interaction – FwkFwt
This expression is characterized by light kudu stripes falling on the shoulder, body and rump of a phae with rosettes intermingled with the stripes or combined with the stripes to create a spotted stripe appearance.
Combined Kudu and Rosette Gene Overview
Watermarked
Watermarked alone creates a merle-like pattern on the base coat, but when paired with the Fawn Locus and sometimes the Countershading Locus, it can influence their appearance as well.
Carrier: nwa
Watermarked – wawa
Watermarked when expressed without any fawn or countershading genes creates transparent, merle-like patterns of dark and light on top of the base coat.
Watermarked Overview
Watermarked Minimal Countershading – wawa/nCs
Minimal countershading is transparent in color, with the dorsal line being a shade darker than the base coat and the underline a shade lighter than the base coat. It can also cause dappling. While still transparent, when combined with watermarked, the edges become more defined and jagged. These markings may extend from both top- and under-line.
Watermarked Minimal Reverse Countershading – wawa/nRc
Minimal reverse countershading is transparent in color, with the dorsal line being a shade lighter than the base coat and the underline a shade darker than the base coat. It can also cause dappling. While still transparent, when combined with watermarked, the edges become more defined and jagged. These markings may extend from both top- and under-line.
Watermarked Minimum Fawn Spots – wawa/nFwn
This gene is characterized by fawn sized spots to giraffe shaped and sized spots falling on the shoulder, body and rump of a phae. Fawn sized spots must be dark in color, while giraffe sized spots can be either dark or light in color.
Watermarked Maximum Fawn Spots – wawa/FwnFwn
This expression is characterized by fawn sized spots to giraffe shaped and sized spots falling on the cheek, neck, shoulder, body and rump of a phae. Fawn sized spots must be dark in color, while giraffe sized spots can be either dark or light in color.
Watermarked Minimum Kudu – wawa/nFwk
This expression is characterized by dark kudu stripes falling on the shoulder, body and rump of a phae.
Watermarked Maximum Kudu – wawa/FwkFwk
This expression is characterized by dark kudu stripes falling on the neck, body and rump of a phae.
Watermarked Minimum Rosette – wawa/nFwt
This expression is characterized by large rosettes (giraffe-sized) with dark exterior and light interior or light exterior and dark interior falling on the shoulder, body and rump of a phae.
Watermarked Maximum Rosette – wawa/FwtFwt
This expression is characterized by large rosettes (giraffe-sized) with dark exterior and light interior or light exterior and dark interior falling on the cheek, neck, shoulder, body and rump of a phae.
Watermarked Fawn Spot and Kudu Interaction – wawa/FwnFwk
This expression is characterized by dark kudu stripes falling on the shoulder, body and rump of a phae with dark fawn sized spots to giraffe shaped and sized spots intermingled with the stripes or combined with the stripes to create a spotted stripe appearance. All markings should be dark in color for this expression.
Combined Fawn Spot and Kudu Gene Overview
Watermarked Fawn Spot and Rosette Interaction – wawa/FwnFwt
This expression is characterized by elongated blocks of markings intermingled with fawn spots. These markings tend to be blocky and slightly geometric in shape, but always appear organic with rounded edges. The watermarked expression tends to create fewer and larger blocks of markings with fewer breaks in the markings and less spots.
Combined Fawn Spot and Rosette Gene Overview
Watermarked Kudu and Rosette Interaction – wawa/FwkFwt
This expression is characterized by dark kudu stripes falling on the shoulder, body and rump of a phae with large rosettes (giraffe-sized) with dark exterior and light interior intermingled with the stripes or combined with the stripes to create a spotted stripe appearance.All markings should be primarily dark in color for this expression.
Combined Kudu and Rosette Gene Overview
Swapped
The swapped gene inverts the colors of all fawn loci-based markings causing them to be darker than the base coat rather than lighter. Usually, these markings will be the same color as the darkest shade of the countershading locus. The genes affected by swapped are; Fwn, Fwt, and Fwk. In the case of Fwt, the center marking becomes darker than the base, while the outer/rimmed markings become lighter. Swapped can be combined with watermarked to create larger, darker markings than the base coat.
To show: swsw
Carrier: nsw
Swapped Overview