Color Genetics and the
NPGA Breed Standard
PART 2
1
Dominance Order of Pygmy Goat
Color Patterns
Caramel is dominant over Agouti or Solid
 Agouti is dominant over Solid
 Solid (lack of Caramel or Agouti) is recessive to
Agouti or Caramel
 A solid (black) pygmy must be Solid/Solid
 An Agouti pygmy could be Agouti/Agouti or
Agouti/Solid
 A Caramel pygmy could be Caramel/Caramel,
Caramel/Agouti or Caramel/Solid

2
Offspring of Pygmy Crosses
for more discussion, see Color Genetics, Color Patterns and the Pygmy Goat by
Phillip Sponenberg D.V.M., Ph.D. at http://kinne.net/pygcolor.htm
Genetic Background (Genotype)
Parent 1
Appearance (Phenotype)
Parent 2
% Solid
% Agouti % Caramel
Solid/Solid
Caramel/Caramel
0
0
100
Solid/Solid
Caramel/Agouti
0
50
50
Solid/Solid
Caramel/Solid
50
0
50
Solid/Solid
Agouti/Agouti
0
100
0
Solid/Solid
Agouti/Solid
50
50
0
Caramel/Solid
Caramel/Solid
25
0
75
Caramel/Solid
Caramel/Agouti
0
25
75
Caramel/Solid
Agouti/Agouti
0
50
50
Caramel/Solid
Agouti/Solid
25
25
50
Caramel/Agouti
Caramel/Agouti
0
25
75
Agouti/Solid
Agouti/Solid
25
75
0
3
Common Inheritance Confusions
New families often are attracted to Caramels, they may
mistakenly consider buying an Agouti or a Solid if they
see evidence of a Caramel in the pedigree, thinking this
will give them options of producing caramels

If neither parent of a cross is a Caramel, no Caramel
offspring will be produced

Even established breeders may not appreciate the
difference between homozygous and heterozygous


A Caramel/Caramel, Caramel/Agouti and a
Caramel/Solid will all look the same but give different
ratios of colored offspring
4
Imagine 3 Breeders Arguing





#1 - “I know that caramel is dominant over everything because
my caramel buck produces only caramel kids”
#2 - “I’m not so sure because my caramel buck looks just like
yours but he produces caramels and agoutis, but no solids”
#3 - “You are both wrong because my caramel buck produces
caramels, agoutis and solids”
(Answer): The 3 bucks look the same but #1 is caramel/caramel,
#2 is caramel/agouti and #3 is caramel/solid….all their
observations were correct
Breeding to a Solid/Solid will reveal an animal’s true color
genetics
5
Brown: Genetics & Terminology
Caramel and Agouti are PATTERN genes
 Brown (as an alternative to Black) is a COLOR gene
 There are dominant Brown and recessive Brown
genes, dominant Brown is most common
 Brown is independent from Agouti or Caramel
 Effect of Brown is to replace ALL black hairs with
Brown hairs

Brown Agouti will have grizzled brown body and brown
socks, dorsal stripe etc. (no BLACK)
 Brown Caramel will have normal shades of Tan body color
accented by brown socks, dorsal stripe, face markings (no
BLACK)

6
Dominant vs Recessive Brown
Dominant Brown Agouti
“Dark Brown Agouti”
Recessive Brown Agouti
“Medium Brown Agouti”
If talking to a geneticist, “dark brown” or “medium brown” would imply dominant or
recessive brown, not the ratio of brown to white hairs that distinguishes a light agouti from
a dark agouti. We may want to add “dominant” or “recessive” to our description of Brown
pygmies to avoid this confusion.
7
Dominant Brown Agoutis
“Dark Brown Agouti”
“Light Brown Agouti”
Notes: In a light brown agouti it is easy to see the brown accents on the legs, face and
dorsal stripe. In a dark brown agouti, it can be more difficult to see this clearly because
fewer white hairs are present to produce the main body color. The difference between
these animals is the same as the difference between a light and dark (black) agouti,
not a difference in the brown pigment. Bred to a caramel, brown caramels are produced.
8
“Brown Caramel”
Caramel Doe
Brown Caramel Doe
Notes: In a Brown Caramel, all the black accents are replaced by brown accents.
In a genetic brown, it is not possible to also have any black pigment - it is a pigment gene,
not a pattern gene. The tan pigments in the main body pattern are not affected by the
presence of a brown gene; they are genetically and chemically different.
9
Dark Caramels should not be
confused with Brown Caramels
Young White Caramel Buck
Mature Dark Caramel Buck
Note BLACK socks, face, mane and dorsal stripe accents
If this was a BROWN caramel, these accents would all
be brown. This buck does not produce brown progeny.
10
Interaction between Agouti Patterns
and Brown in Nigerians (from Waller)
These are both buckskin-patterned Nigerian Dwarf Goats:
“The Agouti locus produces the pattern of pheomelanic (light) and eumelanic
(dark) areas on the goat; the modifier genes determine how intensely pigmented
those areas are. …The tan areas can range from nearly white to a rich red. The color of
the tan areas does not affect the color of the eumelanic black areas, as the
coloration of the black areas is controlled by the Brown gene discussed above. This animal
is a light tan with black markings”
“This animal is also light tan, but the black markings are replaced by dark
chocolate. This is due to the action of the Brown gene Bd mentioned above, which
turns all black areas of the coat to dark chocolate brown. Note that again the tan areas
of the coat are unaffected.”
11
Color Genetics, Color Patterns and the Pygmy Goat
By D. Phillip Sponenberg, D.V.M., Ph.D.
From http://kinne.net/pygcolor.htm
Melanin is deposited in the pigment granules responsible for color; these come
in two basic types - eumelanin and pheomelanin. Eumelanin is usually black,
but sometimes brown, and it is the pigment responsible for black and brown
areas on goats, or rarely for dusky blue color. Usually the color choices with
this pigment are either/or; the goat can either form black or brown, but
not both. Pheomelanin pigment is responsible for red, tan, or yellow
pigment. That sounds easy enough, but if pheomelanin is very dark it can be close
in shade to the brown eumelanin pigment. Pheomelanin usually has a redder cast to
it, though, and the difference between the two types is generally fairly obvious.
"Red" pigment can also be pale enough to be cream or nearly white, and this can
cause confusion in some instances.
Black with caramel
pattern
Brown with caramel
pattern
12
Black vs Brown vs Tan Colors
Gene for
Dominant Brown
Probable gene for
Recessive Brown
Black or
Dark Brown or
Medium Brown
Yellow or
Tan or Red Tan
13
Brown vs Tan Conclusions
Brown pigments and Tan pigments are chemically and
genetically different
 Black or Brown pigments are seen in Solid and Agouti
Pygmy body colors and in the trim accent colors of
Caramels
 Tan pigments are only seen in Caramel Pygmies, NOT
in characteristic Agouti Pygmies
 Registration papers need to correctly distinguish
between Dark (Tan) Caramel and Brown (trim)
Caramel

14
Breed-Specific Markings
Dairy goats have patterns that are often named
as characteristic for a particular breed
 Nigerian Dwarf Goats include a wide range of
color patterns
 The accepted color patterns of Pygmy goats are
limited to Solid (Black), Agouti and Caramel
 Lack of Pygmy-specific markings or markings
specific for another breed can be a very serious
or disqualifying fault

15
Examples of Non-Pygmy Patterns
Badgerface (Chamoisee)
Red Cheek Alpine
San Clemente (Buckskin)
Light belly (black and tan)
16
How Serious are Mismarks?
Are they random or breed-specific?
 “After seeing endless numbers of belly spots it became
obvious that, when located in the girth region, such
spots are simply fragments of full belting…”
 “Also, we found that a family of overly random marked
kids traced back to a sire whose markings failed to meet
our requirements and whose sire, in turn, appeared to
be an Alpine cross. That is when we learned how
quickly a mismarked buck can stamp an entire herd
with polka-dots. The five members serving on the
Certification Committee always tried to reach
consensus”

Eva Rappaport in “NPGA Beginnings”, keynote address to 1985 NPGA Convention
Reproduced in Best of MEMO 2 pages 2-4.
17
Some Disqualifying Mismarks/
Patterns are Obvious
(all colors acceptable?)
18
Questionable Pygmy Colors
Registered as Brown Agouti
Black trim accents - not a genetic brown
Dark Tan body color mixed with black hairs
-Not a recognized pygmy color pattern,
looks similar to Roan Nigerian (see right)
Roan Nigerian
(From Waller article)
19
Questionable Pygmy Patterns
Red Cheek Alpine
Sponenberg 2004
20
Tan Cheeks/Sides
Sponenberg 2004
21