Points (coat Color) on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Points are specific areas of an
animal coat
Coat is the nature and quality of a mammal's fur. In the animal fancy, coat is an attribute that reflects the quality of a specimen's breeding as well as the level of the animal's care, conditioning, and management. Coat is an integral aspec ...
that are colored differently from the main body colorations. Point coloration may be represented by a pale body color and relatively darker extremities, such as face, ears, feet, tail, and external sex organs, as seen on
Siamese cats. However, colored points can be found in many mammal species and some points are lighter than the main body color.
Temperature-dependent colorpoint
In many species, colorpoint patterns come from a genetic mechanism causing pigment to be produced only in cooler areas of the body, called
acromelanism. This can be seen in
cat
The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...
s,
dog
The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...
s (rare),
fancy rat
The fancy rat (''Rattus norvegicus domestica'') is the domesticated form of ''Rattus norvegicus'', the brown rat, and the most common species of rat kept as a pet. The name ''fancy rat'' derives from the use of the adjective ''fancy'' for a ho ...
s,
guinea pig
The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy ( ), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus ''Cavia'', family Caviidae. Animal fancy, Breeders tend to use the name "cavy" for the ani ...
s, and
rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...
s.
bay horse
Bay is a hair coat color of horses, characterized by a reddish-brown or brown body color with a black point coloration on the mane, tail, ear edges, and lower legs. Bay is one of the most common coat colors in many horse breeds.
The black a ...
has a reddish-brown body color with black points, and a
buckskin is a yellowish horse with black points. Some horse colorations have nonblack points (cream, red or brown), such as the
red dun which has red to brown points.
In a color with points (black or nonblack) the legs are dark and the color goes all the way down to the hoof, whereas in a horse color without points the color just above the hoof is lighter than its body color.
Roan horses have white hairs interspersed throughout their body color, but the points are unaffected and remain black, however a horse with
high white leg markings might have their points obscured.
Livestock
Some breeds of
sheep
Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...
exhibit point coloration with a white fleece and colored head and legs, usually black. Sheep breeds with black points include:
Clun Forest
Clun Forest () is a remote, rural area of open pastures, moorland and mixed deciduous/coniferous woodland in the southwest part of the English county of Shropshire and also just over the border into Powys, Wales.
It was once a Royal hunting for ...
,
Dorset Down,
Hampshire Down,
Norfolk Horn
The Norfolk Horn (also known as Blackface Norfolk Horned, Norfolk Horned, Old Norfolk or Old Norfolk Horned) is one of the British black-faced sheep breeds. It differs from other black-faced breeds, which are mainly found in high-rainfall, upland ...
,
Oxford Down,
Shropshire
Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...
,
Suffolk
Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
, and
Valais Blacknose. Instead of black,
American Tunis sheep have a red face, and
Wensleydale sheep have a blue-grey face.
In
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...
, extreme
color-sidedness creates a colorpoint pattern with a white body and darker ears, nose, and feet. Breeds displaying this pattern include the
White Park White Park may refer to:
;Places:
* White Park Bay, in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK
* White Park, County Antrim, a townland in Northern Ireland, UK
* White Park (Concord, New Hampshire), a public park in Concord, New Hampshire, US
* White ...
,
British White
The British White is a British list of cattle breeds, breed of beef cattle. It is naturally Polled livestock, polled (without horns) and is colour-pointed – white with black or red points on the ears and Muzzle (anatomy), muzzle. It has a con ...
and some
Irish Moiled
The Irish Moiled is a rare cattle breed from Ireland. It is a dual-purpose breed, reared for both beef and milk. It originated in County Leitrim, County Sligo, County Down, and County Donegal
County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, cou ...
.
Points in
pig
The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...
s are usually referred to in the color scheme "six white points" where the pig coat color is black and there is white on the four feet, the head, and the end of the tail. Pig breeds with six white points include the
Berkshire pig
The Berkshire is a British breed of pig. It originated in the English county of Berkshire, for which it is named. It is normally black, with some white on the snout, on the lower legs, and on the tip of the tail.
It is a rare breed in the Un ...
and
Poland China
The Poland China is an American breed of domestic pig. It was first bred in Warren County in Ohio, in the American Midwest. Its origins lie in a small number of pigs of Chinese type bought in 1816, which were cross-bred with a variety of breeds ...
.
In
donkey
The donkey or ass is a domesticated equine. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a separate species, ''Equus asinus''. It was domes ...
s, the term "points" refers to the muzzle, rings around the eyes, belly, and upper inner legs, which are usually light in color. The mane, tail, and ear rims are referred to as "trim" and roughly correspond to the "points" of horses. Most donkeys have light points. The coat colors without light points may be called "no light points", "dark points", or "black points". Dark points are caused by a recessive allele of agouti found in Normand and Miniature donkeys. The light areas may vary in extent, with some donkeys having a dark nose but with light areas on the insides of the legs.
Ram of the Clun Forest breed.jpg, A sheep showing dark points on its face, ears, and legs
British White calf trio.jpg, British White calves
Like mother like daughter - geograph.org.uk - 578167.jpg, Berkshire pigs showing white points
Donkey - Bearizona Wildlife Park (7177920492).jpg, A donkey with typical light points
See also
*
Cat coat genetics
Cat coat genetics determine the coloration, pattern, length, and texture of feline fur. The variations among cat coats are physical properties and should not be confused with cat breeds. A cat may display the coat of a certain breed without actu ...
*
Dog coat genetics
Dogs have a wide range of coat colors, patterns, textures and lengths. Dog coat qualities are governed by how genes are passed from dogs to their puppies and how those genes are expressed in each dog. Dogs have about 19,000 genes in their genome b ...
References
{{Equine coat colors, state=collapsed
Cats
Animal coat colors
Horse coat colors
Cat coat types