Agouti is a type of

fur Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket t ...

coloration in which each hair displays two or more bands of

pigmentation A pigment is a colored material that is completely or nearly insoluble in water. In contrast, dyes are typically soluble, at least at some stage in their use. Generally dyes are often organic compounds whereas pigments are often inorganic compoun ...

. The overall appearance of agouti fur is usually gray or dull

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model us ...

, although dull

yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the ...

is also possible. Agouti fur is characterized by an appearance of being composed of hairs of different colors, separate from definite markings (although agouti can appear in combination with other markings, such as spots, stripes or patches). This effect is caused by different ''portions'' of each hair being visible, such that different colors of the hair's banding is seen, despite hairs actually having similar coloration. This effect produces a very distinctive, finely "speckled" appearance similar to "salt and pepper" hair, as well as an iridescent effect very similar to shot silk which causes the overall color to appear to shift subtly depending on the angle of the light or when the animal moves. Agouti fur is the

wild type The wild type (WT) is the phenotype of the typical form of a species as it occurs in nature. Originally, the wild type was conceptualized as a product of the standard "normal" allele at a locus, in contrast to that produced by a non-standard, "m ...

pigmentation for many

domesticated Domestication is a sustained multi-generational relationship in which humans assume a significant degree of control over the reproduction and care of another group of organisms to secure a more predictable supply of resources from that group. A ...

mammals Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur o ...

. It is a highly recognized characteristic trait of several animals, including many wild

canids Canidae (; from Latin, ''canis'', " dog") is a biological family of dog-like carnivorans, colloquially referred to as dogs, and constitutes a clade. A member of this family is also called a canid (). There are three subfamilies found within ...

, wild

felids Felidae () is the family of mammals in the order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats, and constitutes a clade. A member of this family is also called a felid (). The term "cat" refers both to felids in general and specifically to the dom ...

, wild rabbits, and wild rodents such as the namesake agouti.

Canines

In dogs there are four alleles on the agouti locus with the hierarchy of dominance ( epistasis): Ay, aw, at, a. This means a descendant can only develop a recessive coat pattern in the

phenotype In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology or physical form and structure, its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological pr ...

if both parents are genetic carriers of the corresponding allele or if one parent inherits an epistatically underlying allele to the offspring. The alleles Ay, at and a are not present in wild wolves that have no domestic dog among their ancestors.Sheila M. Schmutz:
Agouti Sequence Polymorphisms in Coyotes, Wolves and Dogs Suggest Hybridization
' File:Canis_lupus_signatus_-_01.jpg, An Iberian wolf with agouti coloration File:Bucuresti, Romania, acelasi dulau, frumos de Cotroceni.JPG, An agouti dog File:AustrKelpieBlackTan1 wb.jpg,

Australian Kelpie The Australian Kelpie, or simply Kelpie, is an Australian sheepdog capable of mustering and droving with little or no guidance. It is a medium-sized dog and comes in a variety of colours. The Kelpie has been exported throughout the world and is ...

Genotype at
black and tan File:Oola - 6 months.jpg, Great Dane Genotyp Ay either homozygous or in combination with one of the other alleles File:Agouti Locus inheritance pattern F1.png, cross of two different homozygous individuals File:Agouti Locus inheritance pattern F2.png, cross of two
genetic carriers File:Agouti locus inheritance pattern 3 cross with genetic carrier.png, Cross of a homozygous individual with a carrier

References

Animal coat colors {{Vertebrate anatomy-stub

Canines

See also

References