Originally named the Gunning Black
after Bob Gunning of Davenport, Washington who first recorded this mutation, this
colour is now more commonly known as Black Velvet, or in the United States -
Touch of Velvet (TOV). It first
appeared in 1960 in
a herd with heavy Brevicaudata influence, and
the colour was noted in the head and face. Selective breeding over time
extended this coverage over the neck and spine, to increasingly move down the
sides.. (Some
sources state the year as 1956 - but I have gone with the most used date in the
research that I have located)
The head is covered by darker fur which produces a 'mask' effect, this dark fur
extends over the head and down the spine, and in good specimens extends down the
sides. The animal keeps a clear white belly. The colouration extends
down into the legs as dark lines which are called paw spats.
All of this
darker fur is in the same base colour as the animal and not necessarily black
so often it is easier to think of Velvet as a patterning to the fur rather than
a colour in its own right. (See examples of its effect on different mutation
colours on our Velvet Page
This colour carries a fatal gene, which
means that a Homozygous Black Velvet can never be produced, as the foetus
never develops in the womb. This means that a Black Velvet can never carry
two genes for Velvet.
An unborn baby created with two of this gene
will not develop and be reabsorbed resulting in smaller litters and stress on
the mother.
You can still breed Black Velvet to Black
Velvet, but you will have 25% less offspring, and there is a chance
that the reabsorbing of foetuses could make mother infertile for the
future.
Chinchillas
with the black velvet gene should show complete silky textured veiling from the
tip of the nose to the base of the tail with no break in veiling at the back of
the neck, or elsewhere. It can take up to a year for a chinchilla with the velvet gene to completely get its
full coverage. When breeding the Black Velvet generally passes on
its good fur density, veiling and patterning easily -and can be improved upon
easily by the breeding to good quality dark, 'blue' standard mates.
Some breeders have said that
Black Velvets males also tend to be slow to mature and often are slow to breed,
though I have not found this to be the case myself.
As well as the original dominant black gene, there have been
identified two further recessive genes for black - however to date
research about these has not produced any further information for me other than
the dates they appeared. If anyone knows anything further i would be
grateful to hear from them.
