Being allelic means they are both different forms of the same gene, known as alleles.
Alleles are variations in a gene’s sequence that can lead to different expressions of a trait.
So the muattions are happening at the same location.
As each location only has 2 slots for any alleles to take up, we can not have a Super/Homo Motley + Super/Homo Hypo… or Super/Homo Hypo + Motley… etc… as each homo requires both slots.
Let’s go a step further…
Dominant, incomplete dominant, and recessive traits all have heterozygous AND homozygous forms, which basically means how many copies of a specific gene they have received from their parents.
Heterozygous = 1 copy
Homozygous = 2 copies
The different terms are used to describe when that gene might alter the appearance of an animal from it’s “normal” or “wild type” appearance. The herping community refers to that changed appearance as “visual”.
Here are some examples of the three different types and how the visual aspect fits into each one:
Piebald -
Recessive:
Het = Not Visual – takes up 1 slot
Homo = Visual – takes up 2 slots
Black Pastel -
Incomplete Dominant:
Het = Visual – takes up 1 slot
Homo = A different visual (AKA “Super”) – takes up 2 slots
Leopard -
Dominant:
Het = Visual – takes up 1 slot
Homo = The same Visual as the het – takes up 2 slots
So we can not have more than:
- 1 super/homo
OR - 2 Hets
From the same allelic group.
We can’t get a Motley Hypo Keltic, for example.