Short answer: In herper pseudogenetics lingo, "super" means homozygous for a codominant or dominant mutant gene.



Long answer: Some years ago, a mutant gene in the reticulated python changed the pattern to one that was called tiger. A reticulated (retic) python with two normal genes looked normal, a retic with a tiger mutant gene paired with a normal gene had the tiger pattern, and a retic with two tiger mutant genes had a pattern that looked less like normal than the tiger pattern did. This more extreme version of the changed pattern was called super tiger.



Tiger was the first codominant mutant gene found in boas and pythons. It made quite a splash in herping circles. Up til then, all mutants in snakes except the striped mutant in the California king were recessive mutants. Since then, herpers have called snakes that are homozygous for dominant and codominant mutant genes "super" whatevers.



Paul Hollander

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