Abstract
In a random sample of 188 adult reindeer belonging to a reindeer herding cooperative in Finnish Lapland, the following coat colour mutants were identified: Abf at the locus Agouti (A), kalppinokka (WNk) at the locus White Nose (WN) and white at the locus W (White). Coefficients of coat colour phenotypic polymorphism K were estimated, in order to quantify this genetic polymorphism. Estimations of K were 12.8% for the locus A (Agouti), 5.1% for the locus WN (White Nose), and 7.5% for the locus W (White). This polymorphism results probably from a change in fitness coefficient of genotypes carrying colour mutants following domestication in a random mating context which has not yet been proved.
Highlights
This polymorphism, which has already been described in the domesticated reindeer species (Skjenneberg, 1984; Eira, 1994; Delaporte, 2002), deserves to be explained in terms of Mendelian genetics and Lauvergne & Nieminen (2010) have started to give a genetic interpretation of several colour phenotypes in the Finnish reindeer population according to the principle of homology between loci inducing coat colour in mammals (Searle, 1968)
The present article is devoted to the interpretation of coat colour polymorphism in terms of Mendelian genetics with an attempt to give a quantitative measurement of this polymorphism
White design The piebaldness described by Lauvergne & Nieminen (2010) has not been observed at Ahvenjärvi but, on the other hand, a white design which happened to be rather popular among breeders has been observed: a white nose known under the Finnish name of kalppinokka (Fig. 2d)
Summary
The argument is that, according to Darwin (1868), one observes a polymorphism of visible characters in every animal species after its domestication, knowing that, in mammals, this polymorphism affects mainly coat colour loci (Searle, 1968; Lauvergne, 2010). The present article is devoted to the interpretation of coat colour polymorphism in terms of Mendelian genetics with an attempt to give a quantitative measurement of this polymorphism. It is based on data collected in a Finnish reindeer herding cooperative during a round up in December 2010
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