The Uniquesness Of Breeding Snakes

Its an unequal comparison, as others have pointed out.

simple. people want what looks the most physically attractive, regardless of the path taken to get the animal there.

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Originally Posted by TheSnakeGeek

simple. people want what looks the most physically attractive, regardless of the path taken to get the animal there.

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This is the only answer I've gotten that's been in the realm of what I was looking for.

As for the rest, you are all over complicating things. The only reason BP's don't come in different sizes and shapes like dogs and cats do is more to do with the infancy of being selectively bred by humans while dogs and cats and such have been bred for thousands of years to get all those different "breeds." And new breeds come up ever so often because a new mutant dog is born that is desirable and then get bred back to a parent to see if it's genetic. And that's the same thing we do but because of the infancy of selective bred reptiles most of the new mutations are coming straight from the wild.

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Originally Posted by MasonC2K

This is the only answer I've gotten that's been in the realm of what I was looking for.

As for the rest, you are all over complicating things. The only reason BP's don't come in different sizes and shapes like dogs and cats do is more to do with the infancy of being selectively bred by humans while dogs and cats and such have been bred for thousands of years to get all those different "breeds." And new breeds come up ever so often because a new mutant dog is born that is desirable and then get bred back to a parent to see if it's genetic. And that's the same thing we do but because of the infancy of selective bred reptiles most of the new mutations are coming straight from the wild.

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That's not quite how it works with dog breeds. You don't get dog breeds because of some new mutant gene. Dog breeds are created through generations of selectively breeding individuals who have the traits you desire. Those traits are not simple single gene traits, the way color morphs in ball pythons are. Instead those traits are controlled by multiple genes, some dominant, some recessive, some incompletely dominant, some sex-linked, some sex-influenced, etc etc etc. Many of the traits in different dog breeds are also polygenic. Most (all?) ball python morphs are created by a combination of single and relatively simple genes. The combination of genes in and of itself doesn't make it a "polygenic" trait in truer sense of the term.

Dog breeds didn't just pop up, they were created by combining different breeds. Look at the current "designer mutts", those are potentially new dog breeds in the making. Many dog breeds harken back to similar ancestors, for example mastiffs (including rottweilers), boxers, bulldogs, and the "pit bulls" go back to molosser type dogs. Other breeds were combined to create the unique breeds we have today (where pit bulls are concerned, they were combined with terriers). Other breeds were created in similar manner, using different breeds. Breed A bred with Breed B result in offspring who have traits of both. Those offspring with the desire trait are then kept and bred together or bred back to the parents, resulting offspring with desired traits are kept and bred, etc etc. Through the generations with careful selection, those mutts start to breed true, as the desired traits are cemented in, and a new breed is created. Dog breeds breed true because of the combination of polygenic traits.

Ball python morphs will never become breeds because they will never breed true (with the exception of homozygous dominant or homozygous recessive morphs). Within dog, cat, horse, or any other animal breed, there are types. Ball python morphs are equivalent to types. A foundation bred (type) Quarter Horse may be different in appearance from a race-bred(type) or sport-bred (type) Quarter Horse, but they are all still Quarter Horses (breed). An Egyptian Arabian (type) appears different from a Polish Arabian (type) appears different from a Crabbet Arabian (type) or CMK or Russian or Spanish, or the multitude of other types of Arabians, but they are all still Arabians (breed). But then you have cross breeds (which some may argue are actual breeds now) such as Anglo-Arabian (Arabian/Thoroughbred), Appendix Quarter Horse (Quarter Horse/Thoroughbred). Those cross breeds show traits of both "parent breeds". Even in breeds and types within breeds you'll get different colors (equivalent of morphs in ball pythons), but not all colors are found in all breeds. Arabians only come in bay, chestnut, black, and gray, with some white markings (primarily sabino) and some modifiers and patterns (such as rabicano or flaxen mane and tail). Quarter Horses come in nearly every color, including all those Arabians come in plus dun, cream (makes palomino, buckskin, and the double cream colors, what would be "supers" in the snake world), I think even champagne. Quarter Horses also came in pinto (white markings such as white splash, tobiano, frame overo), but those were separated out into a new breed, the Paint. Dogs are similar... within breeds you'll have types, such as working type German Shepherd, American show line German Shepherd, German line German shepherds, etc. You can have show border collies and working border collies. These breeds are the same, but their types (and thus appearance) is different. Within those breeds and types you get colors. German Shepherds are often black and tan, but also come in all black or all white (though the white German Shepherds are starting to be separated out as a new breed, the American Shepherd). Border collies typically come in black and white, but may also be sable and white or tricolor (may be more colors, I'm not as familiar with dogs as some other animals). Some breeds come in colors that are not accepted or recognized in their governing or registering associations. For example, poodles can be found with white markings, instead of the solid black, gray, white, or red found in shows. Great Danes also come in colors not recognized or accepted into shows, same in many other breeds. What makes a breed a breed is the fact you can breed two animals of this breed together, and all resulting animals will be that breed. They have similar traits, that "ideal" standard that was decided on when the breed was created and determined an actual breed. But it isn't just about physical appearance, it is also about the temperament and purpose for which the animal was bred. Not all individuals of a breed are going to look perfectly like that ideal standard (maybe the ears are too short and the tail too long), but they will still have physical traits that make them identifiable as that breed, as well as temperament traits. Not every animal of a certain breed will be useful for the purpose for which that breed was created, but will still show some traits desired for that purpose (a border collie may have a prey drive too high to actually be able to herd sheep, but it is that prey drive that makes a border collie useful for herding, as long as that prey drive isn't too strong to be controlled by the dog's handler).