MY 2002 ARTILCE ON BENGALS   ALC white underbody pattern... the search © by Marc King - all rights reserved, ALL IMAGES USED WITH PERMISSION       In a period of extensive research before making purchases to start our Bengal cattery in 2000, it became apparent that there was something visually missing in achieving the true "leopard look" in Bengals, i.e. the beautiful underbody pattern that was seen in the ALC. Hundreds of hours were spent in researching, searching for what had happened to this beautiful aspect of the ancestors of the Bengal cat.   By ALC underbody pattern I mean the true brilliant (almost blue-grey) "t-shirt" whited (not light cream or pale beige / light brown colour) area all under the body of the cats, as seen in most spotted felines, from Cheetahs to Marbled Cats. This factor seemed to have completely disappeared from SBT level cats, rarely resurfacing again. My search then started in earnest to find out more about this phenomenon. (pictured here above:SG CH Sutera Heart Breaker, a.k.a. Eddie)   The Only Exceptions... At first the only exceptions found were a number of F1 and F2 filial queens and a very small handful of hot sorrel SBTs. But then a few others caught my eye: F3s and SBTs that had varying degrees of true whited underbody patterns. But they were rare. This fuelled a personal vision to set this as our goal in breeding Bengals and the quest began to put together a group of carefully-selected cats that would assist in reaching this goal. Easily dreamt, difficult to realise!   Whited Belly?? It became apparent rather quickly that the term "whited belly" was not used to mean the same thing in each case were it was mentioned, nor were conclusive scientific evidence or precise genetic patterns of inheritance available to study on the ALC white underbody pattern.(illustrated at left: Millwood Butter Brickle as a very whited kitten - as an adult her was no longer whited) Indeed, the whited pattern seems to continue to avoid nailing-down to a specific genetic behaviour. After numerous hours speaking with breeders in America, Canada, Germany and Sweden, it seems safe to say, however, that the ALC whited underbody has behaved as an easily modified dominant gene complex. (it seemed recessive because breeders who had this phenomena repeatedly said "it just showed up". Since the first publishing of this artilce, however, my assessment of this phenotype has changed.) This would mean that a whited Bengal mated with another whited Bengal would render all their offspring whited. This has proven not to be the case in breeding results. The results I have found of whited bred to true whited SBTs have not always resulted in 100% true whited offspring. An example:   We have with us here in Italy, for example, a long-desired young SBT girl from one of the very few catteries in the world working with whited to whited breeding. Both parents are whited and this female was very white as kitten. Her kitten-age whited expression is now, however, modified to a light tan. She only has hints of pure white - a pattern I described below (in pattern No. 1).   Another young female with us from at least 3 generations whited bred to whited has, however, a pure T-shirt white underbody (pattern No. 4 below). This would/could also indicate that the pooling of these genes or groups of genes with ALC pattern modifiers (reducing the effect of tabby gene modifiers on the white underbody pattern), selecting according to phenotype, is possible. It would also seem that there is the possibility to breed homozygous, whited underbodied Bengals! My vision.   Because so few breeders have had the fortune or privilege to have the whited expressions or true white underbody patterned cats in their breeding stock, there is very little previous experience to refer to and work with. Those that I am in contact with that have had some experience with whited underbody patterns emerging in their breeding programmes usually said, "It just showed up. I did not select for it." There is one cattery in particular, however, that has been working exclusively on the whited expression for more than a decade and it is from them that I learned to most and am most grateful. (illustrated at left: Bundas Taro Mystique of Casa Rocca)   ALC Whited vs. Tabby Lockets An important aspect of this particular white pattern in our domestic breed of cat is its difference to the solid, crisply-contrasting white of some of the tabby patterns, i.e. lockets. The ALC whited phenotype displays a pure white area but with dark spots with its edges blended softly (a softer edge) along the groundcolour of the body, without hard, crisp separations of colour. There is also a "tabby white chin" and body lockets in which a brilliant white, spotless area may appear, both of which are not allowed in our Bengals.   Hot Sorrels and Marbles It is important to say that for years only a small handful of hot sorrels have demonstrated a clean white, extended ALC underbody pattern, and that few of the other colours displayed this refinement up until recently. Historically speaking the hot sorrels Millwood French Lace, Sutera Labu and Millwood Midas Touch figure predominantly in whited pedigrees that were found. I often thought to not introduce the hot sorrel colour into our breeding foundation because of lack of contrasts in their body patterns, but quickly determined by studying numerous pedigrees that hot sorrels figure in the genotypes of most true whited SBT Bengals of any colour. I do not understand the genetic cocktail that made up all what we call Bengals, but it also became obvious in this study that some of the most brilliantly whited Bengals are/were also in the marbled patterns (Sutera Gentry, Kingsmark Tantra, Rainforest Monkey Puzzle, Starbengal Banderas) and that perhaps we have marbles to thank for the reintroduction of this gene complex into some programmes.   Patterns of the ALC Whited Underbody and Whited Expressions When the white underbody pattern is extant, again here stressing the pure white colour and not a lighter or creamy shade of the groundcolour, there seem to be numerous modifiers from the genes introduced in the creation of the Bengal that determine the extent of the whited expression. It is important to note here that in all cases of the ALC whited underbody pattern there are black to dark spots in the light field of colour. If the spots are missing and the underbody pattern pure white, it was considered by most breeders as a locket inherited from the tabby. For my own personal understanding of this underbody pattern, I created a few categories of the modified ALC whited underbody pattern in the whited Bengals I was able to gather information on: 1) The most common lighter underbody pattern is what Carol Effinger referred to me as "whited expression" (coined by Libbie Kerr), i.e. traces or influences of the true white underbody pattern. This category is the reduction of the original ALC white underbody pattern to a small portion of the inside of the legs, a very small part of the chest, perhaps a slight lightening of the groundcolour around the eyes and touches of white in between the back legs, i.e. in the groin area. Cream or light beige is often the predominant colour in the underbody. Interestingly enough, the chin and jaws are often white. In this category there is also often a thin strip of white on the belly, connecting the chest area with the groin whited area. Sometimes this strip reduces to just a lighter shade of the groundcolour as the cat matures or disappears altogether. The collar area across the chest, i.e. above the ribcage and below the chin, is the same as the groundcolour of the back and head. This whited expression is sometimes overlooked because of its lack of visibility unless the cat is on its back with its legs stretched out. This pattern is often the result of whited x non-whited mating. This pattern can also be an extensive area of creamed or browned-over cream, the results of modifiers muting an area of kitten-age white.   2) The next pattern "up the ALC ladder" would be a noticeable increase of white in the chest area, widening up into the neck, up into the face and extending down the inside of the legs. The groin area of white is larger, with a clear "hour glass" whited expression on the belly, connecting the chest and groin whited areas. This pattern usually has a distinct, sometimes wide "browned collar" across the chest from the shoulders, where the black necklaces of the ALC cross the white underbody pattern. In this type sometimes the original black ALC necklace patterns are present but the necklaces are usually brown. This whited pattern is usually only visible when the cat is lying down or raising its paws to show the insides of the legs.   3) The next pattern group would be with pure white flowing up through the face, on the cheeks, and around the eyes with white or very light "spectacles", giving a distinct impression of white when the cat looks at you. From the hourglass whited belly, the pattern would extend up from the groin to near the tip of the tail underneath, extending to cover the entire inner legs (becoming very visible when viewed from behind) and also extend further down the neck to the collar and necklaces, if present. This pattern is very attractive in that the white is easily seen when the cat is walking and playing.Good examples of this type are Rosetta's Pawprint and Back To Basic STAR of JSpots.     4) The last group - and the rarest I've found in SBTs- is basically the above whited pattern with the white on the belly extending from ribcage to ribcage, i.e. fully visible from the sides of the cat in a standing position, combined with a reduction of the browned collar across the throat. I have only seen 3 or 4 Bengals at the SBT level that possessed this pattern, one of which is an F4 now touring the United States and bedazzling judges and onlookers alike!   5) The ALC pattern. Wide brilliant white with jet black necklaces and black spots without any trace of a browned collar. It is also important to note that the pure ALC pattern is always accompanied with pink pawpads and that we should perhaps reconsider the accepted colours of pawpads when setting the ALC whited underbody pattern as our goal in Bengals.   Extent of Underbody Pattern This may also be a bit far-fetched assumption, but the best whited expressions of type No 4 - the wide, easily-seen-from-the-sides of the cat pattern - I have found in non-hot sorrels were mostly in 2 ALC lines so far - one particular line from ALC Taro and one from ALC Phantom. The two widest, most spectacularly whited SBTs I found in this on-going research were from the Phantom line. There are also many whited from the Kabuki lines, predominantly of the pattern types 2 - 3. In an attempt to combine the best genetic basis for our foundation, we hoped and were very gratefully able to procure some of these three lines.   A particular high-point in this search for more of the true ALC whited patterned was discovering at the F3 level a single Phantom filial queen (literally in looking up and at thousands of Bengals) that has actually kept the exact ALC whited expression with a rich rufous mahogany-orange groundcolour, black necklaces and shaded rosettes and NO HINT of a browned collar. A complete one-of-a-kind find, and, of course, we are now on the waiting list for an F3 girl from this fabulously patterned Bengal! next page -   PAGE 1 / PAGE 3   C Marc & Denien King Valle Rebengo 14030 Rocchetta Tanaro (AT)   ( in Europe: 0039) + 0141 644668 (one must dial the "0" in 0141) outside of Europe: (your international CODE + 39) + 0141 644668 email: marcking@teknosurf.it. Parliamo italiano. - Wir sprechen Deutsch. - Een klein beetje Nederlands spreken wij ook. 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