Learning genetics helps you learn what gene controls what and what color your breeding pair can produce. Also, if you do not know your gerbils genetics, by learning general gerbil genetics, you will b able to figure our what genes your gerbil has by what colors it and it�s mate produce.
The following are the loci that are known to exist in gerbils:
A - The Agouti Locus which controls the white belly and ticking.
C - The Albino Locus which controls the overall level of color produced.
D - The Dilute Locus which controls the depth of color (not really seen in the US).
E - The Extension Locus which controls the balance between black and yellow pigment
in the coat.
G - The Grey Locus which controls the intensity of yellow and black in the coat.
P - The Pink-Eye Dilution Locus which controls eye color and whether the coat is
lightened.
Sp - The Spotting Locus. This controls white spotting and by default is not referred to
unless a gerbil is spotted.
The following is a general effect of what each gene causes (uppercase letters= dominant, lowercase= recessive genes).
A-Agouti
a-Non Agouti - Removes the yellow stripe from the fur and removes the white belly
C - Full Color
Cb- Chinchilla Medium - Reduces the intensity of color on the body but leaves pigment at the nose, ears, tail etc. Has a much greater effect on yellow pigment than on black pigment. - Temperature dependant hence less effective at the extremes of the body. This gene is the same as that usually called Burmese and given the symbol cb.
Ch- Himalayan - Drastically reduces the intensity of color on the body but leaves pigment at the tail. Has a much greater effect on yellow pigment than on black pigment. - Temperature dependant hence less effective at the extremes.
D- Intense dilution
d - Dilution of all colors due to clumping of pigment granules.(D or d are not available in
the US right now)
E- Normal Extension of Black
e-Non Extension of Black (Extension of Yellow) - Reduces the amount of black in the
coat in favor of yellow.
ef-Fading - Reduces the amount of black in the coat in favor of yellow but color
drastically fades as the animal ages.
G- Non-Grey
g-Grey - Removes nearly all yellow pigment, dilutes black to grey.
P - Non-Pink-Eyed
p-Pink-Eyed Dilution - Removes nearly all black pigment, Slightly dilutes yellow and
dilutes eye color to red.
Sp-Spotted /Causes white markings on the head, neck, belly and tail. The extent of
markings can probably be extended by modifying genes. The basic color will also be diluted.
sp - Non-Spotted
Golden Agouti- A* C* E* G* P*
Grey Agouti- A* C* E* gg P*
Argente Golden- A* CC E* G* pp
Argente Cream- A* Cch E* G* pp
Cream (Ivory cream)- A* C* E* gg pp
Dark Eyed Honey- A* C* ee G* P*
Yellow Fox- A* C* ee G* pp
Nutmeg- aa C* ee G* P*
Silver Nutmeg- aa C* ee gg P*
Saffron (Argente Nutmeg)- aa C* ee G* pp
Black- aa C* E* G* P*
Pearl- (CPA) A* cbcb E* G* P*
Slate- aa C* E* gg P*
Lilac- aa CC E* G* pp
Dove- aa Cch E* G* pp
Ruby Eyed White- aa C* E* gg pp
Burmese- aa cbcb E* G*(?) P*
Siamese- aa cbch E* G*(?) P*
Pink Eyed White- ** chch E* ** pp
Dark Tailed White- ** chch E* ** P*
Black Eyed White- ** cbch ee gg P*