Pastor Australiano
Seguramente hemos oido hablar del color merle (o mirlo) mucho, por lo que parece una buena idea explicar lo que es (y lo que no es). Lo más importante a recordar es que merle es un patrón de color, no un color por sí mismo. Los perros merle pueden ser de una gran variedad de colores. Hay una gran cantidad de razas de perros que llevan el gen merle.
Merlé hace referencia a una mutación en el gen PMEL que diluye el color las melaninas en el de los perros y los ratones. Puede afectar a todos los colores de manto.
El gen merlé crea parches moteados de color en un manto de color
sólido o picazo, azul o heterocrómico, pudiendo afectar también al
pigmento de la piel.
El cruce entre dos individuos merle se llama doble merle. En algunas
razas de perro, cuando dos ejemplares merlé se cruzan, se presentan
problemas de vista y audición.
Por ejemplo en el border collie los doble merle tienen altas
probabilidades de nacer con sordera y malformaciones de ojos y oídos.
La variación más comúnmente vista se llama merle azul (este es el color que a menudo se considera "típico" de los pastores australianos). Un merle azul es en realidad un perro negro, con el negro roto en manchas irregulares en forma de gris. Merle es la parte gris (parte más clara) de la coloración de la capa, no las manchas negras. La parte más clara de la capa puede variar considerablemente, desde muy claro (azul ceniza) hasta muy oscuro, casi negro (azul acero).
Collie de pelo corto
Pastor Australiano
Aunque a veces se ve el merle definido como una mezcla de pelos negros y blancos (refiriéndose a los perros merle azul), esto no es realmente el caso. Aunque habrá alguna variación en las sombras de gris en un perro determinado, es decididamente un tercer color, y no una mezcla de blanco y negro. El perro sin el gris es más probable que sea ruano.Algunos perros serán fuertemente merlados, donde la mayor parte de su capa es gris, con solamente algunos vestigios del negro. Otros perros serán ligeramente merlados, donde su capa es sobre todo negra, con las pequeñas áreas de merle. Estos perros son a menudo referidos como "merles fantasma", ya que parecen a primera vista ser un color sólido. Estos perros son todavía genéticamente merle sin embargo, y se reproducirán como tales.
Welsh Corgi Cardigan
Merles también son comúnmente de color rojo (marrón), y cualquier perro merle puede o no puede tener puntos de cobre (fuego) y el borde blanco. También es posible tener merle en otros colores (como sable, amarillo, cervato, y azul o rojo diluido), pero son más difíciles de identificar como tales sin ayuda experimentada. Toda la información anterior se aplica a cualquier color de Merle. Los gran danes harlequin también son merles, aunque sólo el color sólido permanece. Se teoriza que el gen arlequin elimina el color intermedio (generalmente gris en daneses), pero esto no se sabe con seguridad.
Pastor Bergamasco
Chihuahua
Gran Danés
We talk about merle a lot on this website, so it seemed like a good idea to explain what it is (and isn't). The most important thing to remember is that merle is a color pattern, not a color by itself. Merle dogs can come in a variety of colors (see links to the left). There is a partial list of the breeds of dogs carrying the merle gene on our links page.
EchoThe most commonly seen variation is called blue merle (this is the coloring often considered "typical" of Australian Shepherds). A blue merle is actually a black dog, with the black broken up into irregularly shaped patches by gray. Merle is the gray (lighter part) of the coat's coloring, not the black patches. The lighter part of the coat can vary considerably, from very light (powder blue) to very dark, almost black (steel blue).
Although you will sometimes see merle defined as a mixture of black and white hairs (referring to blue merle dogs), this is not actually the case. Although there will be some variation in the shades of gray on a given dog, it is definitley a third color, and not a mixture of black and white. Dog without the gray are more likely to be roansG.
Some dogs will be heavily merled, where most of their coat is gray, with only a few patches of black. Other dogs will be lightly merled, where their coat is mostly black, with small areas of merle. These dogs are often referred to as "phantom (or crypticG) merles" because they appear at first glance to be a solid color. These dogs are still genetically merle though, and will reproduce as such.
Merles are also commonly red (brown), and any merle dog may or may not have copper (tan) points and white trim. It is also possible to have merle in other colors (such as sable, yellow, fawn, and dilute blue or red), but they are harder to identify as such without experienced help. All of the above information applies to any color of merle dog. Harlequin Danes are also merles, even though only the solid color remains. It is theorized that the harlequinG gene removes the intermediate color (usually gray in Danes), but this is not known for sure.
EchoThe most commonly seen variation is called blue merle (this is the coloring often considered "typical" of Australian Shepherds). A blue merle is actually a black dog, with the black broken up into irregularly shaped patches by gray. Merle is the gray (lighter part) of the coat's coloring, not the black patches. The lighter part of the coat can vary considerably, from very light (powder blue) to very dark, almost black (steel blue).
Although you will sometimes see merle defined as a mixture of black and white hairs (referring to blue merle dogs), this is not actually the case. Although there will be some variation in the shades of gray on a given dog, it is definitley a third color, and not a mixture of black and white. Dog without the gray are more likely to be roansG.
Some dogs will be heavily merled, where most of their coat is gray, with only a few patches of black. Other dogs will be lightly merled, where their coat is mostly black, with small areas of merle. These dogs are often referred to as "phantom (or crypticG) merles" because they appear at first glance to be a solid color. These dogs are still genetically merle though, and will reproduce as such.
Merles are also commonly red (brown), and any merle dog may or may not have copper (tan) points and white trim. It is also possible to have merle in other colors (such as sable, yellow, fawn, and dilute blue or red), but they are harder to identify as such without experienced help. All of the above information applies to any color of merle dog. Harlequin Danes are also merles, even though only the solid color remains. It is theorized that the harlequinG gene removes the intermediate color (usually gray in Danes), but this is not known for sure.
Publicado en The White Aussies
