As part of our work using data from the Alpaca Owners’ Association (AOA) EPD database to examine whether fleece color affects the expression of fleece traits, we looked at the relationship between color and the EPDs for staple length for over 1300 Huacaya males. We found a pattern that suggests that faster fleece growth rates have a visible dilutive effect on the color we see in fawn, beige and white animals, by increasing the length of the hair relative to the amount of pigment produced to color it.
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