All Other Sex Linked Mutations
By now, you should have learned about the normal grey mutation, and sex-linked splits.
The following mutations are all sex-linked (again, meaning it's carried on the X chromosome!):
- Cinnamon
- Pearl
- Lutino
- Yellowcheek
Remember, since these mutations are carried on the X chromosome, females can never be
split to any of these mutations, since they have only one X chromosome. They will either display it, meaning they have it, or they won't, meaning they don't.
You can do all of these mutations the same way we did the splits. You can use any abbreviation you
want for the mutations, for simplicity's sake, I use XL for lutino, XP for pearl,
XC for cinnamon, and Xyc for yellowcheek.
| XP XP |
XL Y |
| XP XL |
XP XL |
| XP Y |
XP Y |
If that didn't make sense, then you should review the previous step, Normal Greys and their splits.
Remember that in the case of males, they must have both chromosomes to display the mutation. In the above example, all the
males are split to Lutino and Pearl, but are visually normal greys.
When you get into a bird that carries many mutations, you may find it's a little more difficult to figure out
genotypes (genetic makeups) of the offspring. It's dependent upon which chromosome the allele for the mutation is carried
on. Up to now, we have assumed that a bird split to lutino and pearl is XL XP. However, the allele could be carried on the same
chromosome, making the bird X XLP. We would call that a grey split lutino-pearl. XL XP is a grey split to lutino and pearl.
See the difference?
How do you determine whether your bird has the allele on the same chromosome as another allele?
Through genetics! :)
Side note - most breeders will not breed a lutino to a lutino. Lutinos, like so many other pretty animals,
have been grossly inbred, resulting in bald heads and other anomalies. Breeding a male that is split to lutino lessens the chance of
these abnormalities and increases the richness of the gene pool.
Next Step: Recessive Mutations
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