Base Morphs

[JLC]

A better question would be. 'What morphs are considered base morphs?' Albino obviously would be and Pied, but what about Ivory? Ivory is just the homozygous form of yellowbelly, but would you consider Yellowbelly or Ivory to be the base morph? You wouldn't consider het albino to be a base morph, because it looks no different then a normal, yet many yellow bellies don't look that much different then a normal either yet the homozygous form is very obviously a morph. What about pastel and superpastel? Which one would be considered the base morph? Would Leucistic be considered a base morph? If so, would you differentiate between a mojave leucistic and a lesser platium leucistic and a white diamond leucistic and a mocha leucistic?

Mark

As I understand it...a "base morph" is any morph that could reasonably appear in the wild. This would include the homozygous forums of both recessive and co-dominant traits. "Designer morphs" are those where two or more "base morphs" are combined by a breeder...an event that is highly unlikely to ever occur in the wild.