Dear Colleagues,

Coat color variation has been the target of investigation since genetics emerged as a scientific inquiry in the early 1900s. Coat color has long been fascinating to those associated with livestock and poultry, and documenting genetic mechanisms behind coat color variation has been helpful to many breeders. The earliest advances involved Mendelian methods that documented segregation ratios and genetic linkages. As a later development, homologies across species were increasingly focused upon, which greatly helped to define and document the loci of genetic control behind many coat colors. An essential part of this was an accurate definition and classification of coat colors. These all opened the door to many recent advances to more fully understand and document the genetic mechanisms involved in the production of variation in coat color of animals. These recent advances include molecular genetics, biochemical mechanisms, and microscopic and ultrastructural morphology. These details are especially powerful when combined with earlier descriptive and population approaches. These all spring from an ancient appreciation that coat color has had across many cultures for millennia. Papers are welcomed on all aspects of this long-standing field of inquiry that has seen so many recent advances.

Prof. Dr. Phillip Sponenberg
Prof. Dr. Rebecca R. Bellone
Guest Editors

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• coat color
• melanin
• eumelanin
• pheomelanin
• genetics
• molecular genetics