Ultimate Rabbit Colors for Dummies Thread

[Susie570]

I expect this thread to be a bit scattered, going off on tangents and such, but let's try to get something worthy of a 'sticky' here.

A simple, clear explanation of rabbit colors. What the different terms mean, picture examples, etc.

I'm afraid to post much because I'm still learning, but some of you folks are experts on the subject so... I expect help here. Please feel free to correct my errors!!

Most of this will be redundant, but it would be good to have it all in one place!

Hopefully, in the end, we'll actually have something that can be organized into a very helpful thread.

I'll start.

There are three major things to consider when trying to name the color of a rabbit.

The first is coat pattern. There are seven different coat patterns: Agouti, Self, Shaded, Tan, Ticked Pointed and Wideband.

The second is the actual color of the rabbit's coat. There are only TWO base colors for a rabbit coat, Black and Yellow. These two colors can either be 'Dilute' or 'Not Dilute' (generally speaking, if dilute is not mentioned, it is not considered dilute). From these two colors, we get a wide variety of subcolors.

The third consideration is the genetics of the rabbit. It is often impossible to TRULY know what color a rabbit is, unless you know the exact genetics of its parents. Two rabbits might look identical to the naked eye, but be very genetically different. The distinction becomes important if 1) You plan to breed for a certain color, 2) There are genetic issues associated with that particular color. We'll talk more about that later, but the intent of this article is not to delve into color genetics. There are plenty of great sites for that. The point of this article is to, as simply as possible, help a person determine the color of their rabbit, as nearly as possible, based solely on what can be seen by the naked eye.

[[Patterns to remember: Broken, Solid, Otter, Castor, Lynx, Marten, Tort, Harlequin (Harly), Tri-Color (Tri) Fox, Seal, Charlie/False Charlie, Booted Broken (Others??)). A rabbit can be either Self or Agouti in any color, with almost any coat pattern.]]

To make things more confusing, some Breeds are named after a specific coat pattern and/or color. However, not every rabbit of that coat pattern/color ARE those breeds. To make things even MORE confusing, sometimes it is not possible to tell, for sure, the exact color of a rabbit unless you know its genetics (in other words, who its parents were). We will address those things later though.

To begin with, let's get the basics down.

Agouti or Self:
Agouti and Self have nothing to do with the color of the coat, but rather the way the color is expressed in the individual hairs of the coat.
A 'Self' coat shows fur which is the same color from the bottom of each hair to the tip of each hair.
An 'Agouti' coat shows a ring of colors when you blow into the coat, or separate the coat.
If the coat color looks the same from the tips of the fur to the skin, it is Self
If the coat color changes from the tips of the fur to the skin, it is Agouti.
[[ *is this correct?* A 'self rabbit' will also show a consistent skin color under the coat and inside the ears.
An Agouti rabbit can show color variations in its skin colors, for example, the body might be predominantly dark, but the insides of the ears are light.]]

Colors:
A 'Black' rabbit can be anything from a dark pure black to a light wispy gray.
A 'Yellow' rabbit can be anything from the lightest cream to a dark red.

The 'dilute' version of a color is simply a lighter shade of that color, so the light colors, except for white (which is not actually a color, but lack of a color) are 'dilutes'
A 'Chinchilla' (aka Chin or Squirrel) refers to a specific gene which removes Red from the coats, also called. This creates 'Magpies', which are visually distinct due to their black and white (or dilute - blue and white) brindling. A rabbit whose coat contains Red (or yellow) does NOT have a Chinchilla coat.
Eye color helps to determine the overall color of a rabbit.

Description of coat patterns:
Coat patterns depend on how the particular colors in a coat are distributed on the rabbit's body. This can include the 'points', such as the colors on the ears, around the nose, around the eyes, the tail and the belly as well as 'accents', such as what is called [need more]
'Solid' means that the rabbit is the same color all over.

'Broken' means that the colors are 'broken' over the rabbit's body. If you had a solid colored rabbit and an egg full of a different color, then cracked the egg and poured it over the rabbit's body, that would 'broken'.
There are several variations of Broken. One variation is called Charlie (or False Charlie). This means that the rabbit is MOSTLY white, with very little color. The opposite of Charlie is called 'Booted'. This means that the rabbit is MOSTLY a solid color, with a little white 'dressing'.

(other descriptions needed)
'Harlequin' have two colors, Black and Red, or their dilutes (Blue/Yellow).
Tri-Color have THREE distinct colors, such as Black/White/Red, or their dilutes.


Help?? (Note, I will go back to edit, change, add, update this post as folks chime in with information)

 

[akane]

Harlequins have 2 colors. A black and a red or their dilutes (blue harlequin, etc..) Tris have 3 colors from the broken gene on the harlequin gene. The chinchilla gene causes magpies by removing some of the pigment. Particularly yellow/red.

 

[Susie570]

Thanks!! Editing

__________ Fri Feb 27, 2015 1:09 pm __________

Is there a gene, similar to Chin, which removes the Black instead of the Red? <br /><br /> __________ Fri Feb 27, 2015 2:21 pm __________ <br /><br />

Black agouti, chinchilla, silver tipped steel and gold tipped steel, black self,tort, orange(fawn in Flemish), red(sometimes, if it's not chocolate). Those are all black based colors, as they are neither dilute, nor chocolate.

Ok, but I find that a bit confusing, because... Black and Red are two different colors, right? The two primary colors of rabbits? :?:
White was never mentioned, but I guess that would be because 'white' is not a color, per se, it's the absence of color?

I'll use steel as an example to show how changing just one gene affects things:

chestnut agouti becomes silver tipped steel

Opal(dilute agouti) becomes gold tipped blue steel

Ok, wait... so ANY dilute agouti coat is 'Opal'?

Chocolate agouti (amber in rex) becomes gold tipped chocolate steel

Lynx (lilac agouti) becomes gold tipped lilac steel

Chinchilla becomes silver tipped steel

squirrel (blue chinchilla) becomes silver tipped blue steel

chocolate chinchilla becomes silver tipped chocolate steel

lilac chinchilla becomes silver tipped lilac steel.


Lilac is both dilute(blue) and chocolate.

There are blue chocolate and lilac variants of pretty much every pattern.

Ok, so... Blue comes from Black, Chocolate comes from Red... Lilac is a mix between dilute red and black?

 

[Dood]

As Dilute genetics are introduced, colors shade out into different classifications, such as Chinchilla (Magpie),

No - dilute and chinchilla and magpie are all different colour locus

he 'dilute' version of a color is simply a lighter shade of that color, so every color except Black and Red are 'dilutes'.
A 'Chinchilla' (Chin) refers to a specific gene which removes Red from the coats. This creates 'Magpies', which are visually distinct due to their black and white (or dilute - blue and white) brindling

and no

There is already a colour sticky rabbit-genotypes-list-t19367.html and this thread post239422.html?hilit=Blend#p239422 might help to understand how the 5 main colour locus (and 6 less common) interact to create the different colours

 

[Susie570]

Ok, I'll look at the other threads.

I may have seen them already and probably made this face :x

:lol:

Which is why I'm trying to create a very simple, 'layman's terms' (ie: for dummies) version.

It's a work in progress!!

Ok, soooo... The two primary colors of rabbit are Black and Yellow?? o.0
I can see how you could get 'yellow' from Red, but I can't see how you could get red from black, unless rabbit black is actually very dark red?? ancake: <br /><br /> __________ Fri Feb 27, 2015 3:06 pm __________ <br /><br />

A-Locus
A_ = agouti / wild type and most dominant
at_ = tan gene. A mutation that alters the concentration of black pigment in the points and saddle. Found in otters, martens and tans
aa = self. A mutation that inhibits yellow pigment production

Does this mean you cannot have a 'tan' agouti?

 

[akane]

You can have Aat but it will be full agouti without tan type markings.

 

[alforddm]

When ever I start to talk about color in any species, I like to start with the "wild-type color". In horses this is thought to be bay, more specifically bay dun. In rabbits, it is chestnut (aka agouti, castor, ect.) All the variations we see in rabbits today are due to mutations in genes. These mutations alter the function of the gene where they occur which cause variations of the wild-type color. A rabbit (in fact all mammals) will have two alleles of every gene. One allele is inherited from their sire and one from their dam. Even though a rabbit can only have two alleles of a gene, there may be more than two alleles possible in a populations. For example in Rabbits the C locus (TYR gene) there are 5 possible alleles, however, a single rabbit may only have two of these.

There are two genes in mammals that seem to work together to create most of the "base" colors we see. These two genes are ASIP (aka the Agouti Gene) and MCR1 (extension).

We can start with the Agouti Locus or Gene (ASIP). There are 3 alleles that are possible on the Agouti Locus. These are, in order of dominance, wild-type (A), Otter (at), and self (a). An allele being dominant, means that it "overrides" other alleles. For example if a rabbit has the A allele it will express A regardless of which other allele is present. So a rabbit that is AA, Aat, or Aa will all express the wild-type banding that is often called agouti in rabbits. A rabbit that is atat or ata will express otter and a rabbit that is aa will be self.

The Extension Locus (MCR1) has four alleles. They are in order of dominance ES, E, ej, and e. ES produces a steel coat or black coat depending on which modifiers are present. It is the most difficult of the extension alleles because it only expresses if an A (or perhaps at) allele is also present. However, at times a steel based rabbit can appear solid black even if A is present. Because of it's ability to "hide" Steel can cause problems in a breeding program that is trying to fix a certain color or colors. E is the "wildtype" allele that is found in most rabbits. It is the most common of the alleles. ej produces a harlequin or brindle type coat and e alters the pigment expression to restrict black pigment. The e allele is often called "non-extension" but this is not technically correct as the rabbit still has an extension gene it's function is just modified by a mutation.

So, these 2 genes produce the "base colors" of all rabbits. After you have a good understanding of these interactions, all the other genes can be thought of as frosting "layers" on cake (or a photo editing program). They modify the appearance of the cake (or photo) but don't change what is inside.

Disclaimer (I think I have all the colors correct in the table). If I messed something up please let me know so I can fix it.

The loci that alter these base colors are D (dilute), B (Chocolate or Brown), C (full color), P (Lutino), W (Wide band) and of course the white pattern genes which are V (vienna), Du (Dutch), and En (Broken aka English spotting).

 

[akane]

Ok, but I find that a bit confusing, because... Black and Red are two different colors, right? The two primary colors of rabbits?

There is black, B, and chocolate, b. Then there is the dilute, d, of black as blue and chocolate as lilac. Those are the basic colors. Red is a nonextension of black agouti (chestnut) so A*B*C*D*ee.

Working with the C gene series and the rufus modifiers, this gene removes all or most of the dark pigment, leaving yellow, orange or white.

http://www.debmark.com/rabbits/genetics.htm

A black self with nonextension would be a tort aaB*C*D*ee. Change the B and D to get the other base colors in nonextension.

 

[Dood]

A-Locus
A_ = agouti / wild type and most dominant
at_ = tan gene. A mutation that alters the concentration of black pigment in the points and saddle. Found in otters, martens and tans
aa = self. A mutation that inhibits yellow pigment production

Does this mean you cannot have a 'tan' agouti?

correct, the dominant agouti gene would hide the tan (or self) and the rabbit would look agouti if it carried the tan (or self) gene (but a tan harlequin can mimic "tan agouti" :mrgreen: )

A rabbit is either ....

agouti or not agouti (= self)

Chocolate or not chocolate

Dilute or not dilute

Full colour or chin or shaded or himilayan or REW but you cannot have a rabbit that looks like a chinchilla sable, or a chinchilla himilayan, or a sable himilayan a REW chinchilla, as they are all on the C-locus and the dominant colour gene will hide the recessive colour.

Steel or full extension or harlequin or non extension but the steel gene has no visual effect on self (not agouti) rabbits because they lack agouti ring colours and the harlequin gene is incompletely dominant so it will not always be completely hidden by the more dominant steel or full extension genes

 

[alforddm]

Ok, soooo... The two primary colors of rabbit are Black and Yellow?? o.0

Actually these are the two basic colors of ALL mammals: eumelanin (black) and phaeomelanin (red or yellow). The two genes ASIP and Extension (the A locus and the E locus), alter how these two pigments interact and where they are located.

 

[Zass]

alforddm THANK YOU!!

aa ej_ produces a torted harli.

 

[Susie570]

I'm catching up between working on my jobs

 

[alforddm]

alforddm THANK YOU!!

aa ej_ produces a torted harli.

:lol: :lol: :lol: I almost missed the tiny little print. Thank you! I fixed it.

 

[Susie570]

Two questions that have not yet been answered:

There is a gene that 'removes' Yellow - its expression is called 'chinchilla' (right?)
So, is there a gene that 'removes' Black? If so, what is its expression called?

Also, What is the opposite of Dilute called?

Thanks everyone.

 

[alforddm]

Two questions that have not yet been answered:

There is a gene that 'removes' Yellow - its expression is called 'chinchilla' (right?)
So, is there a gene that 'removes' Black? If so, what is its expression called?

Also, What is the opposite of Dilute called?

Thanks everyone.

There is not a gene that removes black. Chocolate, however, does modify the the black pigment making it appear chocolate rather than black. It does not affect yellow/red pigment.

Dilute affects both yellow/red pigment and black pigment so there isn't really a opposite of it.

 

[Susie570]

Dilute affects both yellow/red pigment and black pigment so there isn't really a opposite of it.

What I mean is, is there a word for 'not dilute'? Would that be "full color"?

 

[akane]

Full color is generally used when talking about the c locus. Full color, chinchilla, sable, himi, rew.

 

[Dood]

Two questions that have not yet been answered:

There is a gene that 'removes' Yellow - its expression is called 'chinchilla' (right?)
So, is there a gene that 'removes' Black? If so, what is its expression called?

the "non extension" reduces the black (but doesn't remove the pigment) in the fur shaft in agouti and self based rabbits - non extension colours are tort, sallander, sable point, fawn/orange/red and frosty/ermine

And the wide band" gene only works on agouti based rabbits and extends the yellow section so you could say it "removes black" but really just crowds it out when combined with non extension you get a rabbit the looks self red but it still does have the black pigment genetics

Also, What is the opposite of Dilute called?

Thanks everyone.

"not dilute" or it is not mentioned and assumed to not be dilute

 

[DBA]

Thanks for the informative thread, unfortunately, I am still as confused as ever.
So the terms, lt brown, dark brown, white, off white, black, reddish, gray, mixed, and tannish reddish blackish brown are not acceptable?

 

[Dood]

Thanks for the informative thread, unfortunately, I am still as confused as ever.
So the terms, lt brown, dark brown, white, off white, black, reddish, gray, mixed, and tannish reddish blackish brown are not acceptable?

mostly correct but White is acceptable to describe all (or mostly) white rabbits with red/pink/purple or sky blue eyes or patterned rabbits with the broken, vienna or dutch genes