B.App.Sci., (App.Biology) R.M.I.T.,
Cert. Animal Technology, F.I.T.
Reprinted by permission of Elizabeth Paul and the Australian Alpaca Association (AAA)
Author’s Note: This article follows on from the previous article, ‘An Update of Alpaca Fleece Colours’, published in Issue No. 31 of Alpacas Australia. The last table of results was Table 13; the first table of results in this article is Table 14.
Introduction
The progeny results of matings in the Association’s Herd Book Vol. 8 were assessed and the results incorporated with those of Herd Books Vols. 2-7 inclusive.
There were 5342 progeny results where both the parents’ and the progeny’s colours were listed, and these are presented in Table 14. Approximately 64% of progeny were solid colours, 28% were white, 5% were grey and 3.5% were white/coloured. These figures represent a slight drop in the production of solid colour progeny and a corresponding rise in white progeny compared to Herd Book Vol. 7.
Table 15 presents the updated figures for the results of all matings from Herd Books Vols. 2-8 inclusive. The fleece colours were assigned to the following groups for assessment: brown, white/brown and rosegrey were assigned to Brown; black, white/black and silvergrey were assigned to Black; fawn, white/fawn and roan were assigned to Red.
For example: a mating between a silvergrey alpaca and a dark fawn alpaca, giving a brown progeny, was assessed as Black x Red = Brown; a mating between a white/black alpaca and a rosegrey alpaca giving a white progeny, was assessed as Black x Brown = White.
Table 16 presents the progeny results of all matings involving at least one grey parent. Rosegrey and silvergrey are assumed to be recessive dilute forms of brown and black fleece colours respectively. Mating grey to grey produced approximately 65% grey progeny and 33% solid colour progeny. Grey x grey matings produced only 2% white progeny and 1% red progeny. Mating greys to other colours reduced the proportion of grey progeny to 35% or less. However, rosegrey as a dilute form of brown still maintained dominance over the other colours, throwing more brown/rosegrey progeny than other colours.
Table 17 presents the results of all matings of non-grey parents. It is interesting to note that Black x Red matings consistently produced more than 50% Brown progeny, and approximately equal proportions of both Black and Red progeny.
White x white, black x black and red x red matings were the least likely matings to produce grey progeny. Colour x colour matings produced approximately 97% coloured progeny. Colour x white matings produced approximately 78% coloured progeny and 22% white progeny. White x white matings made up the highest percentage of like to like matings (17.6%) and produced 66% white progeny, but white progeny constituted only 21% of all progeny registered, about the same as for black progeny. Although brown x brown matings constituted only 5% of all matings there were more brown progeny registered than the other colours.
Table 18 presents a list of theoretical genotypes and possible phenotypes for alpaca fleece colours.
Assumptions:
That there are two genes for colour, brown/black and red/white, where brown is dominant to black and red is dominant to white; brown/black also dominates over red/white.
That solid colour is dominant to spotting, where the spotting gene is one which stops pigment production in specific areas starting at the extremities. That is, a white spotted alpaca may simply have a white nose and white feet; or look like a typical “multi” with a coloured blanket and white legs, neck and face; or be almost all white with a small coloured patch in the middle of the back or neck.
That full colour is dominant to dilute colour, where the dilution gene reduces the amount of pigment laid down in individual fibers. This may only affect the secondary follicles in the case of alpacas, with the primary fibers retaining full colour.
If the above assumptions are correct, the colours of grey alpacas are produced by a combination of recessive white spotting and diluting genes. This combination may not be particularly stable, as there is approximately 33% reversion to solid colours when mating greys to greys.
It can also be seen from Table 18 that there may be a number of forms of “white” fleece resulting from different combinations of the genes.
Conclusions
The Herd Book results confirm, once again, that coloured fleece types dominate over white fleece; that brown is dominant over black and also over red fleece colours, and that the bulk of the Australian alpaca herd is coloured.
The reader is referred to the author’s previous articles (see references) for more detailed discussion of the genetics of alpaca fleece colours.
Disclaimer
The author’s opinions and conclusions are based solely on personal research and interpretation of the mating results presented in the Australian Alpaca Association Herd Books, Volumes 1-8 inclusive. The author is not responsible for any breeding or other decision taken by any other person in relation to these opinions or conclusions.
References
Paul, Elizabeth
‘Theory of Colour Inheritance in Alpacas.’ pp 10-17,
Alpacas Australia, Issue No. 28, 1999.
‘The Status of Grey Alpacas in the Australian Herd.’ pp 30-34,
Alpacas Australia, Issue No. 29, 1999.
‘The Status of Red and White Alpacas in the Australian Herd.’
pp 40-44,
Alpacas Australia, Issue No. 30, 2000.
‘An Update of Alpaca Fleece Colours.’ pp 20-23,
Alpacas Australia, Issue No. 31, 2000