Pioneers of Mendelian Inheritance in Animals (PMIA)

PMIA home   Browse by:   Author   /   Year   /   Title

1903 Castle, W.E.
The heredity of 'Angora' coat in mammals.
Science 18: 760-761

Pubmed articleerence: 17844480 . DOI: 10.1126/science.18.467.760.b.

View this paper

This paper was published at the end of 1903, on 11 December.

It includes the first report of Angora or long hair coat as a Mendelian recessive trait in guinea pigs and in rabbits.

The paper is too brief to include the supporting data, which were published subsequently by Castle (1905).

For current knowledge of this trait in those two species, see:

OMIA 000439-10141: Hair, long in Cavia porcellus

OMIA 000439-9986: Hair, long in Oryctolagus cuniculus

The rest of this short paper is devoted to so-called Oregon Wonder Horses, which, according to a newspaper report that Castle recalls, “had mane and tail fourteen feet long”, and which Castle suggests may be the equine equivalent of long hair in guinea pigs and rabbits, and, indeed, in most mammals. Castle’s plea for information on these horses is answered by Davenport six weeks later on 22 January 1904 (see commentary below).

References

Castle, W.E. (1905) Heredity of coat characters in guinea-pigs and rabbits. Carnegie Institute Publication Issue 23: 1-78. View this publication

Davenport, C.B. (1904) Wonder horses and Mendelism. Science 19: 151-153. View this paper