A few questions

[TheInfinite]

These are just some questions I've had for a while.

Since heterochromia is a sort of genetic "glitch," could it possibly be passed from parent to offspring?
Is it possible for wolves to have gray eyes? Because I've heard both answers on this site and I just wanted to know for sure.
If a wolf had a particularly light coat, would it be usual for them to have patches of darker fur in their pelt?

[xElsa]

These are just some questions I've had for a while.

Since heterochromia is a sort of genetic "glitch," could it possibly be passed from parent to offspring?
Is it possible for wolves to have gray eyes? Because I've heard both answers on this site and I just wanted to know for sure.
If a wolf had a particularly light coat, would it be usual for them to have patches of darker fur in their pelt?

1) I've looked into heterochromia, and it is possible to be genetic.
2) This I believe links to heterochromia; as it is very rare to have blue/green/gray eyes in adult wolves, it could possibly be a "mutation."
3. Patches (like dalmations) I don't believe so.. Speckles, yes.

This is all coming from my head at the moment; so if you need to look further and/or any information is incorrect, feel free to tell me ~

[TheInfinite]

Thanks for your answer, xElsa!

[Koa]

Adding on/clarifying-

1.

Determination of eye color is actually fairly complex. Eye color is polygenic; that is, it takes multiple genes to determine the color and shade of the iris (this is true for mammals, although a different mechanism is in place for birds, and likely reptiles, amphibians, fish, and insects). Among mammals, brown and other dark colors are the most common eye color, however blue, gray, green and red also occur.

While the majority of wolves do indeed have differing shades of amber and brown eyes, this is by no means the only colors represented in pure wild wolf populations. Less common in wolves is the blue mutation, however this is not always due to breeding with dogs. Blue eye color is rare in wolves, but it does occur. Like most blue eyes in mammals, it occurred first as a mutation that promoted a certain pigment over another - in this case, shades of blue over shades of gold or brown - which was then passed down in their offspring. Some dog breeds likely have inherited their blue eyes from wolves, although most probably developed the mutation on their own. Some wolf populations that live in close proximity to humans and their dogs may certainly gain a higher proportion of blue-eyed individuals, but not all blue-eyed wolves have dog ancestry.

Even more rare than blue eyes is green. Green-eyed wolves do not all share dog ancestry. Indeed, very few dogs exhibit green eyes (Dachshunds and Golden Retrievers occasionally have green eyes), and likewise very few wolves show green eyes. Again, this is another mutation. Depending on the shade of green, the mutation can occur on what would normally be a brown eye - creating the green-and-brown hazel eye -, or on a gold eye - creating a paler, green-and-gold hazel eye.

Likely the rarest eye color among wolves is red. The red eye color is due to a complete lack of pigmentation in the eye, resulting in the underlying red of the capillaries to show through. Red eye color is generally associated with albinism, which can - but does not always - lead to other degenerative conditions such as blindness or skin cancer.

It is also possible for wolves (and other mammals) to exhibit heterochromia - two different eye colors. This can occur either as a rare eye mutation, through disease, or through trauma. Even more rarely, this can occur due to the organism being a chimera - that is, having two separate sets of DNA, likely from a consumed twin. This is extremely rare outside of a lab setting, and is theoretically possible in every organism.

While heterochromia is possible for wolves, bi-eyed wolves have not been documented to exist in the wild.

http://www.wolfquest.org/bb/viewtopic.p ... s#p1436702

http://www.wolfquest.org/bb/viewtopic.p ... s#p1794323

2.http://www.wolfquest.org/bb/viewtopic.p ... es#p923311

3. Wolves' pelts are usually earthy (brown, gray, white, etc.) and well-blended, and can consist of many colors or variations of said colors. It is certainly possible for them to have random patches of potentially darker fur. You will not see dog-like markings or patterns on wolves in the wild.

Please see this thread for more information:
http://www.wolfquest.org/bb/viewtopic.p ... blightwolf

[TheInfinite]

Thanks Koa! This really clears things up. You can lock this now.

[valkea]

Locking to prevent repeat answers, then c: Thanks for helping, xElsa and Koa.

Locked.