# bearded dragon morphs



## ern79 (Jul 26, 2007)

are any of the beardie morphs predictable, i.e. recessive, co-dom etc or are they selectively bred?, thanks xxx


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## HadesDragons (Jun 30, 2007)

Clearnails-Hypo - Recessive (there are also darknails forms with reduced melanin that are selectively bred and don't show Mendelian inheritance)

Albino - Recessive (confined to Australia, not leaving anytime soon because of the export ban )

Translucent - Recessive

Leatherback / Silkback - Co-dom

US-line Smoothie - Possible Recessive? It's unclear, with some breeders reporting Recessive, others co-dom, others suggesting it's the same as the LB / SB gene...

There may be an axanthic / hypoxanthic gene floating around that's used along with selective breeding to make the whitest, most high-end "Marketed Leucistic" dragons; nothing's been confirmed though, so it looks like it may be a polygenetic trait rather than a single locus.

In general, it's genetically "easy" to remove a colour (you "break" a gene that's involved in producing the pigment, as in hypo, albino etc). Genetically-speaking, it's usually a lot harder (read: you have to be a lot luckier) to find a single gene that will add an appreciable amount of colour. That's why the Red morphs, the high-end Yellow morphs etc are all selectively bred; they comprise lots of individual genes that on their own increase colour expression / distribution by a small amount but, when combined, have a large enough effect as to cause a very distinct-looking morph.


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## ern79 (Jul 26, 2007)

thank you, im guessing snow would be selectively bred then rather than genetic?


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## HadesDragons (Jun 30, 2007)

ern79 said:


> thank you, im guessing snow would be selectively bred then rather than genetic?


Depends where you get it from...

Some dragons sold as "snow" have clearnails and show some element of Mendelian inheritance (these ones use the recessive clearnails-hypo gene, along with some selective breeding to reduce colour). Others don't seem to show Mendelian inheritance, suggesting they are polygenic and selectively bred.


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