Siamese rabbit

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Siamese rabbit is a small breed of rabbit weighing 2.5 to 3.25 kg.

Siamese rabbit

Appearance

The Siamese rabbit resembles the well-known Siamese cat , after which it is named, in terms of color and fur . Among the rabbit breeds, the Siamese rabbit is similar to the marten rabbits , with which it is closely related. The same pattern can be found in the Siamese rabbit, but the basic color of the Siamese is light, almost cream-colored. As with the marten rabbits, an approximately 8 cm wide, not sharply defined, slightly darker stripe runs across the back. This strip begins roughly where the ears of the animal, which are placed on its back, end. The legs and flower are also dark in color, the dark color of the legs should extend over the ankle. The head drawing includes the mask, which darkens the muzzle; the eyes are rimmed dark. The ears are also darkly colored, the base is clearly visible. Below the eyes is the cheek point, from which a whisker always emerges. Due to the mask, the eye rims and the ear coloring, the so-called marten cross is formed on the forehead of the animals, two intersecting light stripes that run across the forehead and from the mask to the neck between the eye rims and the ears. Siamese rabbits are born flesh-colored; the typical color develops over a period of several weeks to months. The drawing usually develops from the 5th month of life. Siamese rabbits only have their coloring and markings for a certain period of time. As a rule, correctly drawn Siamese can only be obtained for a few weeks or months. The animals then quickly change color and then become darker and darker.

Genetically , the Siamese rabbits are yellow marten rabbits; they therefore show the same intermediate inheritance pattern as described in the rabbit marten. Siamese rabbits are recognized in the colors blue and yellow diamonds. The corresponding hereditary formulas are:

  • Gelbsiam :: ambCDg / anbCDg (German symbols) or aBcchi3De / aBch3De (English symbols)
  • Blausiam: ambCdg / anbCdg (German symbols) or aBcchi3de / aBch3de (English symbols)

As with the marten rabbit, the albino factor can also be present instead of the Russian factor .

History of the breed

Siamese rabbits have been bred several times.

Joppich already mentioned that from the stock of marten rabbits he had taken over from Emil Thomsen, he repeatedly saw animals with the coloration of the Siamese, which he called German Siamese (to distinguish them from the Siamese rabbits that occurred at the same time in England). However, the English breed (which has also disappeared again) does not seem to have been Siamese in today's sense, but rather very light-colored marten rabbits. Since Thomsen also used Thuringians for his breeding experiments , the marten rabbits apparently carried the corresponding genetic make-up . Joppich also reported about these Siamese rabbits to the geneticist Hans Nachtsheim , who studied the rabbit's coat colors. Nachtsheim wrote to Joppich on July 2, 1934 (quoted from Kapp, 1998):

“The message about your German Siamese was also very interesting for me. According to their genetic makeup, these animals are "Madagascar-colored martens". I also bred her a few years ago, but I have to admit that I wasn't really enthusiastic about this type. For this reason I said that nothing right would come out of crossing martens with Thuringians. I enclose a picture of my animals bred at the time. In my work, published in 1929, «The Origin of Rabbit Breeds in the Light of Their Genetics», you can even find a colorful picture of my yellow martens. "

Over time, the Siamese rabbits bred by Joppich disappeared again.

It was not until the 1960s and 1970s that interest in Siamese rabbits reawakened. Apparently there was a parallel outbringing in Czechoslovakia and the GDR .

In 1966, the Czech rabbit breeder Jaroslav Fingerland decided to breed Siamese rabbits again. He used a Thuringian pounder and two brown Marten rabbits for this . The 18 different genotypes possible in the F2 generation should also include true-breeding and type-appropriate yellow Siamese; Fingerland reached the wanted animals in the F3 generation and presented the rebred Siamese rabbits in Brno in 1972 .

In the GDR, Siamese rabbits were bred by Joachim Kapp in Triebes from 1973 . The breeder used marten , Russian and Thuringian rabbits for his experiments . To improve the yellow color, he also crossed Sachsengold . The blue color of the Siamese rabbit was presented at the 23rd National Show in Nuremberg .

In Czechoslovakia, a large Siamese rabbit was developed from 1985, corresponding to the large marten. Breeders of this breed were Medek from Kuřim , Ridky from Slatiňany and L. Krejcova from Průhonice . For their experiments they used crossbreed animals from Great Marten × Thuringian and Thuringian × Californian . The large Siamese could be shown for the first time in Brno in 1992; the recognition in the Czech standard took place in 1993. From 1996 Ridky and Vesely bred the blue color variety of large martens from blue and Madagascar-colored (Thuringian-colored) Californians, pure-bred large blue martens and large yellow Siamese. At the same time, breeding experiments with other breeds (e.g. Blue Viennese ) were made; these also led to the desired goal. The blue color of the Greater Siamese was shown in Brno in 1998.

Similar races

The Siamese-colored (blue and yellow) color is also recognized among colored dwarfs and dwarf rams .

The marten rabbit mentioned above is genetically very similar.

The similar looking Sallander is a Dutch breed that was bred by DJ Kuiper from the Salland area . Genetically, it is a combination of the Thuringian with the chinchilla factor .

The badges of the Russian rabbit are sharply demarcated.

literature

  • W. Schlohlaut: The big book of the rabbit . 2nd edition, DLG-Verlag, Frankfurt 1998, ISBN 3-7690-0554-6
  • F. Joppich: The rabbit , VEB Deutscher Landwirtschaftsverlag, Berlin 1967
  • J. Kapp: The Siamese rabbit . In: Rabbit 11/1998, ISSN  0941-0848
  • J. Kapp: Rare Siamese in focus . In: Der Kleintier- Züchter -Rabbit , 2/2006, ISSN  1613-6357
  • J. Fingerland: Great Siamese . In: Rabbit , 4/2000, ISSN  0941-0848
  • A. Fischer: Siamese rabbits . In: Der Kleintier- Züchter -Rabbit , 15/2006, ISSN  1613-6357