A question I want to know about Leatherback Bearded Dragons..

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JamesJ

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Are these lizards too some degree a hypo breed or are they a breed of their own? I haven't seen or heard of such lizard in the wild and I am quite interested in them so I'm wondering how they have been produced.

If any body out there has a detailed answer I am interested to know.

Thanks!
 
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Line breeding I'm pretty sure.

They inbreed and inbreed and inbreeed them to get the desired result. Just the silkback BD which I think is gross interference of something that is already perfect.

I don't think they are a breed but a genetic malformation. Correct me if I'm wrong btw. Sorry it's not too detailed but yeah, just my thoughts.
 
Breeds are groups of animals bred for specific traits &/or mutations. Phenotype can evolve over hundreds, & thousands of years, as a result of the characteristics which prove advantageous in that environment. Genes swapped with animals of the same species, developing in different locations, under different selection pressures, influence each others development, & offer variety within the one grouping of animals.

This is a more species like means of evolution - dogs working alongside nomadic people are a good example.

Separating breeds by way of closing their gene pools is a more recent phenomenon, inspired largely by the eugenics movement.

In the reptile hobby, we often maintain we're working with 'species', not 'breeds', but selectively breeding anything can be described as breed development, by separating animals based on colour, & pattern we are edging towards the eugenics paradigm.
 
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Its a genetic mutation. The gene responsible for normal scale growth/size has mutated in such a way that now the scales do not grow as large as they normally would.

Hypo? Did you mean is it het? Heterozygous means that is carries one copy (or allele) of the gene. The Leatherback mutation is co-dominant, you will always be able to tell if a beardie is a leatherback, it can't 'carry' the leatherback gene. Breeding a leatherback to a leatherback gives you scaleless or almost scaleless animals also called 'silkback' beardies which means that the animal carries two copies of the genetic mutation.

Don't be fooled by people selling 'het leatherbacks' that don't look like leatherbacks. Breeding a 'het leatherback' to a het leatherback' that look like normal scaled beardies won't get you leatherbacks.

That is a simple way of explaining, genetics can be difficult to explain. If you do some research into genetics it will help you if you ever decide to breed. In fact I think that anyone who decides to breed should research genetics and be informed before breeding any animal.

Edit: In theory it is possible to get leatherbacks in the wild if the mutation appeared in an individual, just like you can find albinos in the wild though it would be very rare. Often a genetic mutation affects the animal in such a way that it interferes with its normal physiology and it makes it impossible for the animal to survive in the wild and therefore the genetic mutation can 'die' with the individual before they get to mate, which is why genetic mutations in the wild are rare.

Genetic mutation is less rare in the captive reptile industry since we don't have the need for our animals to survive in the wild and so mutations are discovered and bred.
 
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