Heidi's chipmunk pages - Chipmunk's colour genetics

In Finland the most general chipmunk colour is standard brown, but to some extent there is also white coloured chipmunks. It's essential to notice that white and albino is not the same colour. Abroad breeders have also bred other chipmunk's colour varieties.

The colouring gene which causes a white coloured chipmunk is a recessive gene. It means that if a chipmunk is white (not albino), it has had to get a recessive white colouring gene from both parents. Thus, if parents are both white, their descendants are always white coloured chipmunks, too. A brown standard chipmunk can carry one hidden white colouring gene in it and that explains the thing that there could be also white descendants even if both parents are standard coloured chipmunks. If parent's both colouring genes causes standard descendants, it has no effect if another parent is white or not - the descendants are then always standard coloured chipmunks.

Below the text is a picture of a white chipmunk boy named Hobi (owned by Satu Hirvonen).