The gerbil mutation timeline has been revised and updated and now includes more information on each mutation, with an update on the now extinct "hairless gerbil" that appeared in a colony in a research laboratory in 1978 at Birmingham University.

Click the link here or click the picture on the left to go to the Mongolian gerbil mutation timeline.

Read an in depth article about the P locus and the Pink-Eyed Dilution mutation in the Mongolian gerbil & other Domestic species (revised)  Click here or click on the picture on the left to go straight to the article

For advanced genetic scholars and enthusiasts there is an excellent scientific paper on meiosis in gerbils.  Gerbil species are quite distinct and unique and are mammals whose sex chromosomes pair and segregate during male meiosis without undergoing meiotic recombination like most other species.  This unique feature in gerbil reproduction is shared only by Marsupials and some insect species.

The page also includes some fascinating videos in 3D reconstructions of the X and Y sex chromosomes.  Click here or click the picture on the right to read the scientific paper on the subject.

The gerbil genetics learning centre has now been revised and more content added to its pages.  It is also now in a contents format which makes it easier to reference and read.  Packed with detailed information and animated graphics, discover every aspect of gerbil genetics at your own pace.  Go on cellular journeys to discover how genes, chromosomes and DNA work, read how Mendel's Laws apply to gerbils, learn the aspects of basic breeding, learn about the primary coat colours and discover how the loci in gerbils affect their coats to produce the many colours we see today in our favourite pet, the Mongolian Gerbil.  Click here or on the pictureto the right to go straight to the contents page.  Alternatively click on any of the pages or chapters below.

Contents

Section 1

• Basic Genetics
• The Cellular Journey
• Cell Division
• Mitosis & Meiosis
• Mitosis
• Errors in Mitosis
• Meiosis
• Errors in Meiosis

Section 2

• Gerbil Mutations
• What exactly is a Mutation?
• Understanding the primary coat colours
• How the known mutations affect the coat of a Golden Agouti Gerbil
• How the known mutations affect the coat  of a Black (self) Gerbil

Section 3

• Mendel's Laws applied to Gerbil coat colours
• Mendelian Traits
• Mendelian Inheritance
• Mendel's First Law
• Zygosity
• Homozygous
• Heterozygous
• Hemizygous
• Dominant & Recessive Genes
• The Punnett Square & The Probability Of Inheritance
• The Monohybrid Cross
• Filials

Section 4

• Mendel's Second Law
• The Dihybrid Cross
• The Test Cross or Backcross
• Monohybrid Test Cross
• Dihybrid Test Cross

Section 5

• When Punnett Squares Deviate From The Known Phenotypic Ratios
• Separator Gerbils

Section 6

Part 1

• The A Locus
• The C Locus
• The D Locus

Part 2

• The E Locus
• The G Locus
• The P Locus
• The Spotting Locus