Variability of pheomelanin content in wool of Karakul lambs and the problem of phenetics of color

: In samples of wool from 1,229 differently colored newborn Astrakhan lambs, the total content of melanins and the proportion of pheomelanin in the total melanin were studied by the method of electron magnetic resonance spectometry. An analysis of the corresponding computer data base revealed that the distribution of the samples with respect to the proportion of pheomelanin had at least four characteristic maximums; 1-6, 9-10, 28-29, and 39% of pheomelanin. The former two maximums were characteristic for the brown and Karakalpak sur colors, and the latter two maximums, for red-brown kambar color. White hair tips, characteristic for the sur color, and the proportion of pheomelanin were combined almost independently; therefore the possibility is discussed of classifying these characters as independent phenes, and some variants of sur, as their combinations.