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Origins & Excursions in Pigeon Genetics

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Origins & Excursions in Pigeon Genetics 1 2 ORIGINS and EXCURSIONS in PIGEON GENETICS ▬▬▬ ▬▬▬ ▬▬▬ ▬▬▬ A compilation by W. F. Hollander not copyrighted Printed ▬ 1983 by The Ink Spot P.O. Box 496 Burrton, Kansas 67020 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Title page Title page Foreward - 1982 3 Multiple alleles 39 You know what’s a dove 4 Short down 40 Dove-pigeon names 5 One toe or two 44 Classification 5 Bad genes? Mercy me! 42 Goodwin's book 6 Mosaics 44 Species of Columba 9 Blaine's brainstorm 45 Like begets like? 10 Sex chromosome map 46 Eyes front 11 Quest for linkages 42 Splitting blood 12 More about mules 50 Loisel et Mendel 13 Darwin was right 52 Genetics quo vadis? 14 Origins of domestic Believe the begats? 16 genes, listing 53 Pigeon chromosomes 17 Origins preface 54 Genetics all Greek? 18 Origins I 55 Inheritance of blue 20 Origins X 71 Mutation 21 Origins XX 93 Q & A re + 22 Origins XXX 117 Darwin's mystery 23 Study of Frillback 130 Delusions of Genetics 24 Polar pigeon 131 Sex differences 26 Pooled odds & ends 132 Flecks and sex 26 Color kaleidoscope 133 Genetics à la Quinn 29 Color-pattern mutants 140 German book 30 Skin color 141 Red and white in blue 31 Genes & juice 142 Escutcheons askew 32 Brown turned white 143 New wrinkles in sex linkage 34 Pretzel breeding 144 Sex-linked matings 36 Squab production 145 Testing 37 What strain? 145 American rare 38 Alphabetical genes 148 2 FOREWORD - 1982 Genetics: William Bateson of England coined the word in 1906 and defined it as “the physiology of heredity and variation.” A nice, scientific-sounding word, and a nice, simple- sounding definition. Ah, but it is tricky. That nice little word and the neat definition now seem to engulf most of Biology. And the technologies and methodologies and the lines of reasoning have become astoundingly complicated. It is practically impossible for the layman or fancier to comprehend formal reports any more, even when the subjects should be highly interesting. Over the years I have tried to build a bridge over the chasm between the fancier and professional scientist. Rickety, wobbly, and not too well aligned, to be sure, but it has allowed a lot of cross-communication, even fraternization. The present compilation of essays is the essence of that bridge, though not complete. The arrangement is to some extent rational, but not chronological. Informality is the key. We cannot say that expertise in Genetics is essential to success in showing, racing, or even squab farming. Some understanding however can be helpful and gratifying. But like all science, Genetics is never finished: the pigeons will continue to give us new mysteries for solution. Any fancier may discover something that is beyond our knowledge, and the fancier may even discover the answer. Generally we are not adequately prepared to pursue the myriad problems that arise, but perhaps collaboration will develop. Pigeon Genetics News Letter, and its successor, Pigeon Science and Genetics Newsletter, have been leading the way, trying to keep up communication. Other periodicals have also been helpful. At the end of each essay its date and place of previous publication are given. The following abbreviations may be used: N. P. A. = National Pigeon Assoc.; P. G. N. L. = Pigeon Genetics News Letter; P. S. & G. N. = Pigeon Science and Genetics Newsletter; A. P. J. = American Pigeon Journal; A. G. H. A. = American Giant Homer Assoc. For further background information and bibliographic references the reader should consult the big books by Wendell M. Levi: “The Pigeon”, and “Encyclopedia of Pigeon Breeds.” 3 SO YOU THINK YOU KNOW WHAT’S A DOVE The 1966 “Birds of North America”? by Robbins et al. (Golden Press, N.Y.) includes the Rock Dove. You would call it just plain common pigeon. But the authors of this book are not uneducated or stuffed shirts. So who is right? Both. Now ain’t that a mess? Blame it on the old English language. If you lived in Mexico, for example, there would be only one name: paloma. And in Sweden, only one word: dufva. Those languages make no distinction. But English grew not in isolation but by mixing. First the ancient Celts, then Roman invasion, Germanic invasions, (Angles, Saxons, Jutes), Scandinavian invasions (Vikings), Norman French invasion, religious and trade terminology, and probably Shakespeare’s influence all contributed to the richness of our language. Richness, but also some confusion. We got the word dove from the North countries, and the word pigeon from the French, both meaning the same birds. But that isn’t the worst of the mess at all—as the exploration of the globe proceeded after the Middle Ages, the sailors went around Africa, to India, China, the New World—both North and South America—and the Caribbean islands, New Guinea and Australia. Great: everywhere they went, they discovered new sorts of pigeons or doves. Hundreds of kinds, never imagined to exist. Even that gigantic flightless wonder, the dodo (dove-dove?), which was so good to eat that pretty soon none were left alive. All sorts of pigeon and dove names were casually assigned, such as quail-dove, green pigeon, nutmeg pigeon, diamond dove, bleeding-heart dove, bronzewing pigeon, passenger pigeon, etc. etc. To make sense of this superfluity of diversity, scientific names were gradually worked out, so that each kind would have a fixed monicker that everybody agrees on. The latest compilation is a big volume (over 400 pages): “Pigeons and Doves of the World’? by Derek Goodwin, publication No. 663 of the British Museum of Natural History. It hit the bookstores in 1967, and few dove breeders bought it because it cost almost as much as a pair of doves. Anyway, this book uses the name Rock Pigeon instead of Rock Dove, and our old pal the common pigeon has the dignified scientific name Columba livia. The first part of the name is the genus, and the second is the species. All together, some 40 different genera have been identified, including around 400 species. Memorizing all of them is a challenge. Many of these species are terribly wild and hard to satisfy in captivity. Now where does the silky dove fit in this scheme? Well, we know the history of this critter—it was found as a mutation among ordinary ringneck doves (Streptopelia risoria). So it is not another species but rather a subdivision, and such subdivisions do not rate a scientific Latin label. We can call established mutant types breeds or varieties within a species. New breeds and varieties can also be bred by crossing previous ones. So we have such combi- nations as rosy silky, pied silky, white silky, etc., just as we have silver Fantail pigeons, black Fantails, white Fantails, etc., all in Columba livia. It helps to remember that species are our interpretation of natural divisions, while varieties and breeds are human contrivances. So now you know? Like the Dove of Peace, man? —American Dove Association Bulletin, June 1975 4 PIGEONS — DOVES Greek: Peristera, Peleia, Phassa, Phatta, Treron Latin: Palumbus, Columba, Turtur French: Pigeon, Biset, Palombe, Turturelle Italian: Piccione, Palomba, Tortora Spanish: Paloma, Tortola Polish: Golab Dutch: Duif Rumanian: Porumbel Danish & Norwegian: Due German: Taube Swedish: Dufva, Skvabb Hungarian: Galamb, Gerle Scotch: Doo Russian: Golub English: Dove, Pigeon, Turtle, Squab Czech: Holub Portuguese: Pombo Turkish: Güverçin, Kumru TAXONOMY = CLASSIFICATION 5 DEREK GOODWIN’S BOOK “PIGEONS AND DOVES OF THE WORLD” Though this book is nearly as big as Levi’s “The Pigeon”, it has practically no other similarity, and Goodwin even refrains from citing Levi in his references! Issued December 1967 as Publication No. 663 by the British Museum of Natural History (London), it has 446 pages plus 3 color plates (paintings), and costs 6 pounds 6 shillings (over 15 U.S. 1969 dollars). There are no photographs, but numerous pen-and-ink drawings and distribution maps. The illustrations are credited to Robert Gillmor, but many are based on Derek’s sketches. Goodwin is not a fancier or even an aviculturist but an ornithologist especially interested in natural behavior. In this aspect of taxonomy he is a true disciple of C. O. Whitman. The bulk of the book consists of individual treatments of the hundreds of species of the pigeon-dove Order. Each species has for its heading first the chief common name, then its genus and species name, and the original taxonomic reference. Following these are para- graphs on description, distribution and habitat, feeding and general habits, nesting, voice, display, other common names, and finally a few selected references. Shading shows the species distribution on a sketch map. The birds are pictured simply standing or perching, not in display. For the first 50 or so pages, Goodwin discusses general topics, including nomenclature, adaptive radiation, eggs, plumage sequences, and much on voice and habits. Of special interest to me are his “dendrograms”—tree-like diagrams showing his ideas of the evolutionary relationships of the species and genera. Interestingly, Goodwin gives no weights or measurements but uses the feral common pigeon and Barbary (ringneck) dove as familiar comparisons. Probably weights are not available for many species, but measurements must be. Goodwin is usually frank to state “No information” if other data are lacking, and he desires to point out the extent of ignorance. I find the book a long-needed compendium. Years ago Marvin Emery set out to prepare a magnum opus something of this sort but never completed it, much to my disappointment. It is a huge job. Other available books on the wild species are mostly fragmentary (Naether), or regional (Baker, Delacour, Mayr, etc.), or lacking descriptive detail (Peters).
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