I was asked a while back to post pictures of the four different phenotypes that have showed up in each of my two litters that contained Roswell boas.
These 2008 holdbacks are good examples of the four distinct appearances within each litter.
Connected pattern with laddertail...this male from 2008, most strongly resembles his parents, having sidestriping and streched out side medallions like them as well.
Normal...this female appears completely wildtype.
Roswell male.
And the fourth phenotype, having the connected pattern, streched out side medallions and some sidestriping, but no laddertail. I believe this male, may also carry the gene, but is just low expression(and missed on the laddertail).
What's interesting for me, is how similar the connected pattern babies in this litter(who are presumed to be heterozygous for the striped Roswell form), are to other unrelated boas, both captive bred and imported, that have connected patterns and laddertails.
Makes me wonder if the gene is just occuring along with the connected pattern/laddertail, because Todd Smith's and Dr. Bryan Wayne's original Suriname import female had a connected pattern/laddertail as a pure coincidence (along with the mutated gene responsible for the Roswell form). Perhaps making the connected pattern/laddertails a polygenic trait from the Suriname import, but completely unrelated to the gene responsible for the striped form.
It may also be, that the gene is the connected pattern/laddertail appearance itself...but one that is genetic, and only resembles other connected pattern/laddertail boas, that are not themselves 'het' for the Roswell form. Obviously there have been other pairings of connected pattern/laddertails, that didn't produce anything unusual.
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Heather Martin
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