I think I’ve heard that color pattern showing up seems to happen when animals start to become more human-friendly for some reason?
Like when they started to domesticated foxes-
That’s true! Foxes are the most recent/famous example of piebald coats showing up as animals are bred to favor more tame temperaments. As the most friendly and sociable foxes were bred with each other, other characteristics started showing up in addition to piebald coats:
Floppy ears
Curly tails
Shorter tails (loss of vertebrae)
Change in vocalizations (barking)
As far as why this happens, that’s some complex genetics I’m not qualified to explain. In fact, I’m not sure if enough research has been done to fully understand it. If anyone knows of any studies that successfully correlated all the traits that start coming out in the process of domestication, feel free to chime in!
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