OK, brief synopsis of the Lynx issue. This is in the Mini Rex breed. The Mini Rex Standards Committee is proposing changes to the Lynx color description that will change the desired undercolor of the animal. It is currently to be white or off white with dove grey being desired as undercolor on the belly only. The change would make dove grey undercolor all over the rabbit desirable, with white or off white to be severely faulted. It is my understanding that the the majority of Lynx Mini Rex breeders do not want this change for a couple of reasons:
1. Although we know that a true genetic lilac agouti aka Lynx is to be dove grey undercolor, fawn intermediate band with lilac tipping, Lynx have been bred to fit a standard that required a white or off white undercolor. (which is a DQ in Opals, btw). So breeders have carefully selected for the animals that are true genetic lynx with white undercolor. They have produced animals with dove undercolor all over the rabbit, which under the current standard, could easily be DQ'd. These animals have not consistently reproduced the dove undercolor in their offspring. There a several factors which tie into this. I have suspected it is possibly linked to "e" non-extension. Not too many standards ago, Lynx Mini Rex were genetically Fawns with smut. Many of the Lynx still carry 'little e' which may be affecting the lightness or darkness of the dove grey undercolor.
Another theory of mine is that "w" wide band could be affecting the undercolor. Wide band is a gene that is not exactly known and understood as well as say, the dilution, or pattern genes. Those tend to be cut and dry; Dominant, Recessive etc. Wide band can do funky things. Not too many Standards ago, wide band Castors were also permissible. A wide band castor will look like a Castor with a lot of red showing thru the surface color and will have no slate undercolor on the belly. They also have a "double wide" intermediate band. Some of the lynx with off white or white undercolor could be carrying wide band, "Ww". When Mini Rex were first becoming a breed, wide band was very prevalent. You would see it in Castors, and Opals. Of course you WANT it in Reds for cleaner color, and more Rufus, as wide band and rufus tend to go hand in hand. And since the dilute Reds were shown as Lynx, it ties together.
A long time ago, when I created my family of Lynx Netherland Dwarfs I also set out to create a wide band lynx, with the memory of the wide band Opal Mini Rex in mind. At that time the Dwarf standard DQ'd for dove undercolor anywhere on the animal. So I wanted to make a "true' genetic lilac agouti without dove undercolor, that I could show and that was not a smutty Fawn. When I finally got one, it was a doe and she had no dove undercolor on the belly and none on the top. However the wide band gene also took away all the ring definition. It was a long off white undercolor with a muddy blending of lilac and fawn at the outer 1/3 of the hair shaft. But she was A-bbC-ddE-(ww), a Lilac Agouti. So I kept her and bred her and it's likely that some of my Lynx Dwarfs had a copy of the wide band gene floating around. They also had white/off white undercolor. So a combination of these factors, or other unknown factors could be contributing to the cause of the off white undercolor. I did not prove or disprove either of these theories while breeding Lynx and Fawn Netherland Dwarfs. Mainly because I wanted to breed Fawns and Lynx together and was not intending to eliminate 'e' from my Lynx. But, for now that question will not be answered by me, as Amanda and I are no longer breeding Lynx and Fawns.
2. When you produce an animal that has what the genetic literature sites as the 'proper' or 'logical' undercolor, dove grey, these animals may not successfully reproduce themselves. This can be tied back to them being heterozygous for non-extension, wide band, or unknown factors. Because the Lynx Mini Rex breeders have not been able to successfully reproduce the dove undercolor over the entire animal from generation to generation, they do not wish to change the standard at this time to something that they see as an enigma. They view it as going against the hard work and culling to produce animals with white/off white undercolor and the moving away from the Fawns or dilute Reds that used to be shown, and moving to the true Agouti animal we see on the show tables today.
What I would like to see is wording that allows both undercolors. This may not be possible as the Standard is to be the description of the ideal. I do not want to see the Lynx variety suffer, because of a strict change in undercolor description to something that has not been proven in the breeding pen.
I do have a few thoughts about how to improve the Lynx variety and increase the chances of dove grey under color. In addition to breeding out the 'e' and 'w', non-extension and wide band, I recommend breeding Lynx to Opals that show excellent dark undercolor. The Opals have been culled and selected for intensity of undercolor and definition of ring pattern. When the Lynx is established as a variety which has dove grey undercolor over the entire animal, then we will start to see animals which will show clear and definite banding; dove grey undercolor, clearly defined Fawn intermediate band, with the lilac and Fawn tipping. You will not see clear and precise banding on animals with white/off white undercolor, because what ever factor is causing the white undercolor is also muddying up the banding. Why this phenomenon presents its self in Dilutes and not Normals I do not know. I believe that it may be linked in part to the factor that causes some Self Blues to 'snowball' or be 'frosty' as juniors, and sometimes molt out of it as adults.
I am not a Mini Rex breeder at this time, but have raised them in the past. This is not just a 'Mini Rex' issue to me, it is an issue that affects any Lynx variety, because we are still learning and exploring this color and the genes that make it. The Standard of Perfection is not a static document, it is malleable and changing. I definitely believe that we should not change the Standard to fit the animal, but breed the animal that fits the standard, but in cases like these, we may be looking for a language ideal that does not translate to what we are given by nature. I believe that the Lynx Mini Rex needs time to breed towards a goal, without being forced to throw away what currently exists.
