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splash white...fox?

[img]https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/302517_20…] OK... This is taken from my dad's trail cam the other night. The date on the camera is wrong. My German Shorthair has a friend, a fox friend. He'd go down to the pond every day just about and they'd play chase. Well... When we first had Brooks, he wasn't fixed. It looks like he might have bred with a fox, doesn't it? Those back legs look an awful lot like his. I know this isn't supposed to be able to happen, chromosomally... But heck, if a mule can have a baby, who knows what other flukes might happen... I wondered if maybe he just got his fur ripped off in the back, but I would think foxes would have black skin... Or maybe it's a fox with splash white, haha!!

JNFerrigno Tue, 08/30/2011 - 21:27

I wouldn't be surprised, they do have some kind of white pattern on them any way. And domesticated silvers have it as already pointed out. We also see it in Deer, and they have a white pattern on them as well.

rabbitsfizz Wed, 09/14/2011 - 15:44

This is the Russian one from the 1950s??
The sixth generation could be kept as pets......
They bred only to "tame" criteria, ignored all colours and patterns and bred for quiet natures, hoping to make the animals calmer in the cages- actually, the end result would not have had to be kept in cages, runs would have done, but finding people to kill and skin them would have been a problem!
The flopping ears (not actually evident in the picture claiming to illustrate them) and pied coat pattern were random results of the animals becoming tame- which goes against all the dog taming theories, however.
The end result looked for all the world like Shelties!

horseynp Wed, 11/27/2013 - 16:16

I found a few sites with good information: two just have pretty pictures, bu the last has actual genetics.

thefriendlyfox.webs.com/color-variations

livingwithfoxes.weebly.com/colour-morphs.html

usfoxshipperscouncil.org/201204mutant-color-phases

from what i have found there seem to be two genes that change all black pigment in the fox's coat to brown or gold, they are called "burgundy" and "collicott." Burgundy is brighter and is more of a copper, while collicott is more toned down brown.

There is some kind of dilution gene that lightens only black pigment called pearl. Some say that there is a different gene that looks like pearl, but its "warmer" in tone. they call it Mansfield pearl. It can be combined with burgundy or collicott to make a sort of a tan color

There is a gene that only comes in to play on a pearl called "fire factor" that lightens red pigment

there are several white pattern genes: platinum, marble, white face, and Georgian white.

the so called "silver fox" and "cross fox" coloration are caused by variations in two genes which they choose to represent with A and B. (so a silver fox is one with mostly black pigment, a red fox has mostly red with some black, and a cross is in between)

For example:

AA BB - red fox

AA Bb- standard cross

Aa Bb- blended cross

aa BB - Alaskan silver

aa bb- black

all of the white patterns, brown, and pearl can be layered on top of a red fox, a cross fox, or a silver fox.

All of this information is pieced together from may different sites, so I can't vouch for its accuracy and I think that most of it is based on breeding studies! I have no idea what the actual genes are, but you'd assume they'd be pretty close to a dogs right?

Its pretty cool though :)