hello! do you know why piebaldism (the Ws allele in cats) is so common in domestic animals? to my knowledge it occurs in cats, dogs, horses, cows, mice, etc. it just seems weird that this specific mutation is so prevalent cross-species, is it just selective breeding? you're the only blog i know that talks about coat genetics in different species so i thought maybe you would know 😅
Piebaldism is an "easy" phenotype: all kind of different mutations that results in worse functioning melanocytes can give white patches. Horses for example have piebald mutations on at least five different genes (EDNRB, KIT, MITF, PAX3 and TRPM1). Probably all those animals you listed have different and unique piebald mutations.
I think this is why it's so common: it doesn't need a specific mutation, just something that turns down pigment production. And turning something off is always easier than changing it but keeping the main functionality.
Piebaldism is observed in all kind of wild animals too, it probably often turns up spontaneously; and by all likeliness that's what happened with early domestic animals too. From that it was simple selective breeding; humans always liked special-looking animals.
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Batman fun fact! Did you know that Scarecrow’s toxin doesn’t always cause fear? Sometimes it does the opposite! In Detective Comics #571, he wields a variant that completely inhibits the biochemical fear response, preventing people from feeling any concern for themselves or using basic common sense. He runs a racket administering it to star athletes, who take huge risks and get badly injured. Then they’re willing to cough up a lot for an antidote. Batman and Robin - here Jason Todd - catch on, but Bruce is dosed with the reverse fear toxin; since his intelligence is his greatest strength, being too overconfident and reckless to think twice about anything makes him his own worst enemy.
This premise was adapted in the Batman: The Animated Series episode “Never Fear”. There we see that with no fear of losing his moral integrity, Bruce becomes cold and merciless to criminals. Robin - here Tim Drake - has to catch somebody he leaves to fall off a building, tie him up to stop him endangering himself and others and give him the antidote to prevent him murdering Scarecrow.
But in the comic book, Jason is kidnapped by Scarecrow. (He gets gassed, and hallucinates Bruce dying and telling him that it was his fault.) He isn’t around to keep Bruce in check as he goes to rescue him through a series of death traps that he can’t resist cutting it as close as possible in. So how does Bruce not go off the deep end? How does he not lose sight of what’s important? Not lose himself?
Because even a drug designed to shut down stress at the most fundamental level can’t overpower his true worst fear. The Dark Knight might feel fearless…