Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion
We haven't proven this (unless somebody did when I wasn't looking!). It absolutely could be a separate, but very tightly linked gene -- so tightly linked that one is not inherited without the other.
I tend to believe that it is due to the pleiotropic effects of one single mutation, only because there are now so many mutations that we know to be affected with similar neurologic problems (woma, HG woma, sable, champagne, etc., etc..). However, the scattered reports of neurologic non-spider offspring from spider parents does make me wonder if we are looking at a linked gene that is very rarely crossing over. I doubt it, but it isn't outside of the realm of possibility.
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