Chocolate-coloured Labrador retrievers have, on average, 10% shorter lives than black or yellow Labradors, according to a study of veterinary records.
WHAT A DOG’S COLOUR CAN TELL US
BETTER UNDERSTANDING ANIMAL REPRODUCTIVE PROCESSES ARC-supported researchers from The University of Western Australia have found that some fish species are highly selective when it comes to choosing the father of their offspring. ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) recipient, Dr Clelia Gasparini, and Associate Professor Jon Evans, have discovered that female Poecilia reticulata (guppy) fish may mate with several males—like many other species—but they also exercise great control over which males will ultimately be successful in fathering their offspring. The researchers found that females can affect reproductive outcomes and fertilise their eggs by differentially using sperm from different males— speculating that the females may be controlling the way it is stored in their body after mating, as a way of sorting the ‘best’ from the ‘worst’. The researchers say that the study provided a clear demonstration that female guppies have subtle but powerful control over what happens at the gamete (reproductive cells) level after mating. This research may have implications for our understanding of reproductive processes and evolutionary mechanisms across a range of animal species, and may have important applications to the fields of assisted reproductive technologies and fertility research.
ARC-funded researcher, Professor Paul McGreevy, and his research team at The University of Sydney, in collaboration with the Royal Veterinary College (UK), has revealed that the life expectancy of increasingly popular chocolate Labrador retrievers is much lower Kingdom-based Labrador retrievers of all colours shows chocolate Labradors also have a higher incidence of ear infections and skin disease. Part of the ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) scheme-supported VetCompass™ Programme, which collects and analyses demographic and clinical information on dogs in Australia, the research is being replicated in Australia, where Labrador retrievers are the most popular breed than their black or yellow counterparts. The study of more than 33,000 United of pet dog. The LIEF funding has united all of the nation’s veterinary schools on a single project for the first time. The research found that the prevalence of pyo-traumatic dermatitis (a skin condition) in black dogs was 1.1%, in yellow dogs it was 1.6%, and this figure rose to 4% in chocolate-coloured dogs. Meanwhile, otitis externa (an ear infection) was found in 12.8% of black dogs, 17% of yellow dogs and 23.4% of chocolate-coloured dogs. Professor McGreevy said the relationship between coat colour and disease came as a surprise to researchers and that the study confirms the dangers of breeding for colour if health is not monitored at the same time. The findings point to previously unknown genetic connections between coat colour and disease in dogs, which warrant further investigation.
The study has shown not only that sexual selection can continue after mating, but that the females can control this process.
UNDERSTANDING OUR WORLD 6
UNDERSTANDING OUR WORLD 7
Aquarium fish guppies, male. Credit: iStock.com/Georgy_Golovin.
Professor Paul McGreevy and his Labrador retriever, Bundy. Credit: Cath Muscat.
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