A Tri-colour (Mosaic) Shorthorn Cow

Abstract

Records of colour mosaicism in the Mammalia are rare1 and among cattle especially so there being only four in the literature2. Moreover, in pedigree herds such anomalies would not be recorded in the herd books. In view of this, the following case of a pedigree Dairy Shorthorn cow is of interest. The animal, Gwersyllt Lucy 17th, had a patch of black hair, about 14 in. × 12 in., on the shoulder extending on to the neck. The rest of the coat was a typical roan colour. The sire of G. Lucy 17th was a pure-bred Shorthorn bull, Iford Lord Laurel 13th, 258054 (the number is the registration number in Coates' Shorthorn Herd-book, from which the pedigree may be obtained; this applies also to the two bulls noted below). On the dam's side, the pedigree extends back for three generations to a non-pedigree red-and-white Shorthorn cow. This cow has not been seen, nor was her daughter, but the owner states that no trace of black could be observed in either. I have myself examined the grand-daughter, the mother of G. Lucy 17th; and she was a typical red-and-white Shorthorn with no black on the coat. The sires on the dam's side were all pure-bred Shorthorns (vide Iford Royal Waterloo 26th, 231016, the maternal grand-sire of G. Lucy 17th). The tri-colour has given one offspring, a white male, by Plaspower Tamini, 239473, white.