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Horse Sense
Using Equines to teach Genetics and
Evolution for High School Biology
Rebecca Akins
Eric Swanson
Chandra Nielson
Color Coat Genetics of Horses
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Color is one of the first things that you usually notice about a horse.
Through the centuries that man and horse have been together, colors
have been associated with luck, speed, strength—even temperament.
The importance of color is apparent when a new foal is born.
Almost always the first questions asks is “Is it a colt or filly?” and
the second is “What color is it?”
Color can increase a horses value, especially palomino, pinto, and
dun/buckskin.
Horses expressing these colors can be registered secondary to it’s
breed registry and shown at venues that are for only certain colors
of horses.
Color of horses can be determined by simple Mendelian Genetics.
Color Coat Genetics of Horses
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Colors of Horses
White
Gray
Chestnut
Bay
Grulla
Buckskin
Palomino
Cremello
Black
Pinto
Roan
And Many More!!
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All can be explained by using
Mendelian Genetics showing
dominance, recessive, and
codominace.
Students can be taught how to
use pedigrees of horses to
determine the possible coat
colors of offspring.
The color coat of horses is
determined many different
genes.
White
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Represented by W
White is dominate
White is not considered a
color, but actually a modifying
gene that causes the the
absence of color.
Skin color will be pink
If the W gene is present, there
will be no other possibilities
for any color but white.
Gray
Represented by G
 Gray is dominate
 Gray is similar to white, a
modifying gene, but the
change is gradual over
time. A horse will be born
with color, but will turn
gray.
 Skin will be black
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Many horse colors are located on
different 7 genes
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Chestnut ee, aa, CC, dd, gg, ww, toto
Bay E, A, CC, dd, gg, ww, toto
Black E, aa, CC, dd, gg, ww, toto
Grulla E, aa, CC, D, gg, ww, toto
Buckskin E, A, CCcr, dd, gg, ww, toto
Buckskin Dun E, A, CCcr, D, gg, ww, toto
Red Dun E, aa, CC, D, gg, ww, toto
Palomino- ee, aa, CCcr, dd, gg, ww, toto
Cremello-ee, aa, CcrCcr, dd, gg, ww, toto
Tobiano- any color but has TO
Overo- ?
This is only a few
of the hundreds of
different
coloration and
shades of horses.
These colors are
some of the most
common.
Alleles and Actions of Horse Coat
Color Genes
WW: Lethal
Ww: Horse typically lacks pigment in skin, hair and eyes and appears to be white.
ww: Horse is fully pigmented.
GG: Horse shows progressive slivering with age to white or flea-bitten, but is born
any non-gray color. Pigment is always present in skin and eyes at all stages of
silvering.
Gg: Same as GG.
gg: Horse does not show progressive silvering with age.
EE: Horse has ability to form black pigment in skin and hair. Black pigment in hair
may be either in a points pattern or distributed overall
Ee: Same as EE.
ee: Horse has black pigment in skin, but hair pigment appears red.
AA: If horse has black hair (E), then that black hair is in points pattern. A has no
effect on red (ee) pigment.
Aa: Same as AA.
aa: If horse has black hair (E), then that black hair is uniformly distributed over body
and points. A has no effect on red (ee) pigment.
CC: Horse is fully pigmented.
CCcr: Red pigment is diluted to yellow; black pigment is unaffected.
CcrCcr: Both red and black pigments are diluted to pale cream. Skin and eye color are
also diluted.
DD: Horse shows a diluted body color to pinkish-red, yellow-red, yellow or mouse
gray and has dark points including dorsal stripe, shoulder stripe and leg barring.
Dd: Same as DD.
dd: Horse has undiluted coat color.
TOTO: Horse is characterized by white spotting pattern known as
tobiano. Legs are usually white
Toto: Same as TOTO
toto: No tobiano pattern present.
RN-Roan
RNrn-Roan
rnrn-no roaning
Chestnut
ee, aa, CC, dd, gg, ww,
toto
 There are many shades of
chestnut. This would be
considered sorrel because
of the red hue to the coat.
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Bay
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E, A, CC, dd, gg, ww,
toto
Brown body with black
points
 Points are legs, tail,
mane, and tips of ears.
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Black
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E, aa, CC, dd, gg, ww, toto
Grulla
E, aa, CC, D, gg, ww, toto
 The only difference
between a black horse and
a grulla is the dun factor
(D). Notice the obvious
dorsal stripe and the
mousy gray body.
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Buckskin
E, A, CCcr, dd, gg, ww, toto
 Note that this horse is
basically a bay, but the
areas of red pigment have
been diluted to yellow
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Buckskin Dun
E, A, CC, D, gg, ww, toto
 The buckskin dun is different
from the buckskin in that
primitive markings can be
seen such as striping on the
legs and a dorsal strip down
the back.
 The D allele codes for the
dun factor.
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Red Dun
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ee, aa, CC, D, gg, ww, toto
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Like most colors, red dun comes in a
variety of shades. The horse above is
pretty light (a shade often called orange
dun), whereas the horse at right is rather
dark. Some chestnuts are so light that they
are lighter than some shades of red dun.
The difference, of course, is that the points
of the red dun are darker than its body
color, and the red dun, like all duns, has
primitive markings (usually hard to see in
photos!).
This is basically a chestnut horse with Dun
factor (D)
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Palomino
ee, aa, CCcr, dd, gg, ww,
toto
 CCcr is the dilution of the
red coat color of the
chestnut to yellow.
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Cremello
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ee, aa, CcrCcr dd, gg, ww, toto
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The codominate dillution factor is
homozygous in a Cremello. Eyes are
always blue with pink skin and very light
cream colored coat.
Offspring of cremello bred to any color
will produce desirable colored offspring
including
Palamino-from chestnut or black
Buckskin-from bay or black
Smokey black-from black
Horses possessing this coloration are
highly prized as breeding stock.
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Bay Tobiano Pinto
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E, A, CC, dd, gg, ww, TO
This is a bay horse with the
pinto Tobiano gene.
Tobiano horses generally have
large, distinct round patterns of
white that extend down over
the neck, withers and chest,
and the flanks are usually the
dark color. Head markings are
like those of solid horses and
generally, all four legs will be
white, at least below the hocks
and knees.
Overo
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Overo horses generally have white under their bellies
and on the sides of their abdomens and necks. The
white usually does not cross the back of the horse. At
least one leg, and often all four, will be the dark color.
Head markings are often bald-, apron- or bonnet-faced
and the white markings on the body tend to be scattered
or splashy. The tail is usually one color.
Currently there is still work being done on determining
the color patterns of pinto horses. It is not yet known
how to determine the color pattern of a horse if it’s not
tobiano.
There has been shown that overos can carry a recessive
lethal white gene. There is a ¼ chance when two
overos that are carriers of lethal white are crossed, the
foal will die within a few hours of birth due to a
neuromuscular dysfunction.
Roan
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Roan(RN) is similar to how
tobiano works. A horse can
have all the genes for a color,
but roan is the mix of color and
white hairs throughout the
body.
The naming of Roan horses is
either Red or Blue roan. A red
roan is any base color but
black, which is called blue
roan.
Punnett Square
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Since the only difference
genetically in coat color is the
the chestnut dilution factor, C,
you may show a punnett
square only concerning the C
allele for dilution factor.
Chestnut is ee, aa, CC, dd, gg,
ww, toto
Cremello is ee, aa, CcrCcr dd,
gg, ww, toto
Palamino is ee, aa CCcr, dd,
gg, ww, toto
C
C
Ccr
CCcr
CCcr
Ccr
CCcr
CCcr
Genotype-100% CCcr
Phenotype- 100% Palomino
Breeding Questions
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You have a chestnut mare, but
you have always wanted a
“Black Beauty”.
You have two stallions what
you like, a homozygous bay,
Ben’s Great Bay, or a
homozygous black, Midnight.
What stallion should you breed
your mare to have a chance to
get a black foal.
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Chestnut-ee, aa, CC, dd, gg,
ww, toto
Bay- E, A, CC, dd, gg, ww,
toto
Black- E, aa, CC, dd, gg, ww,
toto
All are the same except for the
alleles for E(e) and A(a)
You can use a dihybrid cross
Punnett Square of
Ben’s Great Bay X Your Mare
Ben’s Great Bay
 Homozygous Bay- EE,
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AA, CC, dd, gg, ww,
toto
 Your Mare
 Chestnut-ee, aa, CC, dd,
gg, ww, toto
Genotype-100% EeAa
Phenotype-100% Bay
EA
EA
ea
EeAa
EeAa
ea
EeAa
EeAa
Midnight X Your Mare
Midnight
 Homozygous black- EE,
aa, CC, dd, gg, ww, toto
 Your Mare
 Chestnut-ee, aa, CC, dd,
gg, ww, toto
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Genotype-Eeaa
Phenotype-100% black
You choose Midnight
Ea
Ea
ea
Eeaa
Eeaa
ea
Eeaa
Eeaa
Many more examples
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have written may handouts where students can
practice determining the outcomes of color coat
genetics of horses.
Horse Evolution
How the Horse Evolved
Eohippus aka Hyracotherium
 The
first horse evolved about 50 million years ago.
 It was called Eohippus
 ‘Eo’ is Greek for ‘dawn’
 ‘hippus’ is Greek for ‘horse’
How the Horse Evolved
Eohippus
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Eohippus was the size of a small dog
of fox.
Horses today have one toe, it’s hoof
on each leg
 Eohippus had four toes and each
of its hind legs had three toes as
well as two vestigial ones.
Its head was more like that of a
reptile than a horse
 Its teeth were for browsing on
lush leaves and plants, not for
grazing
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How the Horse Evolved
Mesohippus
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The ‘second horse’ in the evolutionary
chain was Mesohippus.
Twice the size as Eohippus
Appeared about 35 million years ago
Skull was larger, face appeared
longer, eyes set further back and
changes in teeth were apparent.
Had three toes on each foot
 The middle toes was a primitive
hoof was larger than the lateral
ones.
How the Horse Evolved
Mesohippus
How was Mesohippus intermediate between the ancient Eohippus
horses and more modern forms by looking at foot structure?
Eohippus
Mesohippus
How the Horse Evolved
Mesohippus
 The
Eohippus predecessors of Mesohippus had
four toes on their front feet, but Mesohippus lost
the fourth toe, therefore, having three toes on
the front foot.
Eohippus
Mesohippus
Tooth Structure of Mesohippus and
Eohippus
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Mesohippus premolar teeth became more like molars. These premolars are said to be
"molariform." The primitive triangular premolar pulps food, while the squared
molariform teeth crush and grind food.
This might reflect a shift from a more diverse diet including fruit to a more limited diet
of leaves and possibly grass.
The first upper premolar is never molarized. It is only occasionally present in modern
horses. It is popularly called the "wolf-tooth" by horse-breeders.
Eohippus
premolars
premolars
molars
molars
Mesohippus
How the Horse Evolved
Miohippus
 Miohippus
30 million
years ago
 Larger in size
How the Horse Evolved
Merychippus
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20 million years ago
Because of the abundance of grass lands 25
million years ago, ‘horses’, including
Merychippus, gradually became grazing
animals
There were changes in jaw movement and
tooth structure
Stood about 1 meter in height
Skull and face became more horselike
Front legs modified
 Fusion of the radius and ulna into one bone
 Fusion of tibia and fibula fused into one
bone
 The center toe of the leg became longer
and stronger and the two side toes became
smaller
Though it retained the primitive character of 3 toes, it looked like a
modern horse. Merychippus had a long face. Its long legs allowed it to
escape from predators and migrate long distances to feed. It had highcrowned cheek teeth, making it the first known grazing horse and the
ancestor of all later horse lineages.
A thought to chew on....
Did the “ruminant horse” ruminate?
The strong crests of the teeth of Merychippus
reminded Professor Leidy (the scientist who
named this genus) of the teeth of ruminants.
The ruminant digestive system is a slow, but highly efficient method
of processing vegetation.
So far as we know, no living horse, rhino, or tapir has ever had
such a system, so it is unlikely that the “ruminant horse” ruminated.
Cows, sheep, and deer are ruminate animals. Ruminants swallow
vegetation that is then processed in one or more of the “foregut”
chambers (so-called because they occur before the “true” stomach
[abomasum]).
Horses are not ruminate animals. Horses are called “hind-gut
fermenters” because they have a digestive pouch in the intestine, or
caecum, behind the stomach. Microbes in the caecum break down
the vegetation so that energy and nutrients can be obtained by the
horse.
Paleontologists almost never find fossilized digestive tracks and so
can only make educated guesses about the digestive physiology of
extinct animals.
How the Horse Evolved
Pliohippus
Appeared 5 million years ago
 Resemble today’s horse
 Originating in North
America, it emigrated to Asia,
Europe, Africa, and South
America by means of
connecting land masses,
Pangia.
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How the Horse Evolved
Pliohippus
 Side
toes disappeared to leave the vetiges that are
the long splint bones on either side of the cannon
bone in the present day horse.
 Change in leg and food structure during this period
were due to environment
 Speed
was necessary for survival
How the Horse Evolved
Equus
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Today’s domestic horses, ass, and zebra
Domestic horses- Equus caballus
The sole species of wild horse surviving
is Equus przewalskii. Found in its natural
state in mountainous country on the
boarder of China or in the zoos of
Europe and North America
All other wild horses including Mustangs
are actually feral horses whose ancestry
can be traced back to the domestic horse
.
Equus prewalskii
How the Horse Evolved
Equus
Prewalskii’s horse and Tarpan are said to be the
predecessor of the Oriental or Eastern breed, including the
Arabian.
 The Arabian is thought to be the foundation of all
domestic breeds.
 Of all the domestic animals, the horse was the last to be
tamed. In the early days, the wild horse was a convenient
source of food for primitive peoples. The horse was
probably first tamed in Eurasia about 5,000 to 6,000 years
ago.
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The Arabian
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The Arabian is the oldest and
purest of all breeds.
It’s unique to other breeds in
that it has one less vertebra than
other breeds of horses.
Arab-13 vertebra
Others-14 vertebra
Arabs are noted for having
spirit, endurance, beautiful
dished heads, and high
intelligence, sometimes
outsmarting their trainers.
The Arabian