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Posted by Leopard fan on October 31, 2001 at 11:53:43:
In Reply to: Fatal Gene?????? posted by Steven-RGR on October 31, 2001 at 10:02:34:
: Either that or it would produce a "fatal" gene situation.
I think that's quite possible in any species.
About 4 years ago, I had what might be a situation close to your example. One of my leopards hatched extremely weak, and died within a couple of hours. It had an very large head for its size, but what really stood out was the colour - he was as bright orange as a pumpkin, and only one small barely visible light grey spot on his back. His parents were plain ordinary wild type colouration. None of the other offspring from that pair looked like him, though some did have a lot of orange on their tails for a wild type. I didn't have a decent camera back then, the few pictures I had were blurred (can't zero in on a hatchling from 3 feet away :). I'm thinking the genetics that caused his colour also affected his head or brain size, but whatever it was, it was a fatal combination. Patternless leopards seem to be a bit more susceptible to 'what's going around' or generally weaker than other colours. It might be the genetics, though I have to admit it could also be from the way they were 'mass-produced' in the early days of their existence. It's not a fatal combo, but 'weak'.
In plants, you quite often find the weaker seedlings produce some of the nicest colours. I never pitch the runt seedlings, just nurse them along and hope they grow to flowering size. They usually produce the flowers that people notice first, either blossom size or colour. Chances are it's similar with geckos. A combination that produces what we'd consider desirable (colour or pattern) is the result of gene alignment that also produces something that's fatal.
In this discussion we're just dealing with visible changes - patterns, colours, though it could also cover giants or mini sized leopards. Don't forget, that mixing and matching genes can also result in internal workings going awry. Who knows if that super duper pink and purple plaid leopard that everyone wants, doesn't come with a defective heart valve? Or tendency towards diabetes? or hormone imbalance? We've got to think of all the things that can go wrong when we breed only for colour. Just because we can't see it on the outside doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Unless you get a complete necropsy done, you'll never know if your pet died of something genetic or not, and whether it's prudent to continue breeding that line.
Ooops... better quit before I end up with my own soapbox.
