View source for Piebald

{{Short description|Animal with white markings on a darker coat}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Redirect|Pied}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{More citations needed|date=November 2011}}
[[File:Irish Tinker horse 2.JPG|thumb|upright|A piebald horse, [[Tobiano]] pattern]]

A '''piebald''' or '''pied''' animal is one that has a pattern of unpigmented spots (white) on a pigmented background of hair, feathers or scales. Thus a piebald black and white dog is a black dog with white spots. The animal's skin under the white background is not pigmented.

Location of the unpigmented spots is dependent on the migration of [[melanoblast]]s (primordial pigment [[Cell (biology)|cells]]) from the [[neural crest]] to paired bilateral locations in the skin of the early [[embryo]]. The resulting pattern appears symmetrical only if melanoblasts migrate to both locations of a pair and proliferate to the same degree in both locations.  The appearance of symmetry can be obliterated if the proliferation of the [[melanocyte]]s (pigment cells) within the developing spots is so great that the sizes of the spots increase to the point that some of the spots merge, leaving only small areas of the white background among the spots and at the tips of the extremities.

Animals with this pattern may include [[bird]]s, [[cat]]s, [[cattle]], [[dog]]s, [[fox]]es, [[horse]]s, [[cetaceans]], [[deer]], [[pig]]s, and [[snake]]s.  Some animals also exhibit colouration of the irises of the eye that match the surrounding skin (blue eyes for pink skin, brown for dark). The underlying [[Genetics|genetic]] cause is related to a condition known as [[leucism]].

In [[medieval English]] "pied" indicated alternating contrasting colours making up the [[Variation of the field|quarters]] of an item of costume or [[livery]] device in [[heraldry]].

==Etymology==
The word "piebald" originates from a combination of "pie," from "[[magpie]]", and "bald", meaning "white patch" or spot.<ref>{{cite web |last=Harper |first=Douglas |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=piebald&allowed_in_frame=0 |title=Piebald |website=Online Etymology Dictionary }}</ref> The reference is to the distinctive black-and-white plumage of the magpie.<ref>{{cite book |last=Skeat |first=Walter W. |author-link=Walter William Skeat |title=The Concise Dictionary of English Etymology |publisher=Clarendon Press |date=1882 |page=442 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YAF6AAAAIAAJ&q=piebald }}</ref>

==Horses==
{{Unsourced section|date=February 2024}}
[[File:Pinto sport horse mare.jpg|thumb|A piebald [[mare]]]]

In [[British English]] ''piebald'' (black and white)  and ''[[skewbald]]'' (white and any colour other than black) are together known as ''coloured''.  In [[North American English]], the term for this colouring pattern is [[Pinto horse|pinto]], with the specialized term [[American Paint Horse|"paint"]] referring specifically to a breed of horse with [[American Quarter Horse]] or [[Thoroughbred]] bloodlines in addition to being spotted, whereas ''pinto'' refers to a spotted horse of any breed.  In American usage, horse enthusiasts usually do not use the term "piebald," but rather describe the colour shade of a pinto literally with terms such as "black and white" for a piebald, "brown and white," or "bay and white," for skewbalds, or color-specific modifiers such as "bay pinto", "sorrel pinto," "buckskin pinto," and such.

[[Equine coat color genetics|Genetically]], a piebald horse begins with a [[Black (horse)|black]] base coat colour, and then the horse also has an [[allele]] for one of three basic spotting patterns overlaying the base colour.  The most common coloured spotting pattern is called [[tobiano]], and is a [[dominant gene]].  Tobiano creates spots that are large and rounded, usually with a somewhat vertical orientation, with white that usually crosses the back of the horse, white on the legs, with the head mostly dark.  Three less common spotting [[gene]]s are the sabino, frame, and splash [[overo]] genes, which create various patterns that are mostly dark, with jagged spotting, often with a horizontal orientation, white on the head.  The frame variant has dark or minimally marked legs.  The [[Sabino horse|sabino]] pattern can be very minimal, usually adding white that runs up the legs onto the belly or flanks, with "lacy" or [[Roan (horse)|roaning]] at the edge of the white, plus white on the head that either extends past the eye, over the chin, or both.  The genetics of overo and sabino are not yet fully understood, but they can appear in the offspring of two solid-coloured parents, whereas a tobiano must always have at least one tobiano parent.

==Dogs==
In many dog breeds the Piebald gene is common. The white parts of the fur interrupt the pigmented coat patterns. Dogs that may have a spotted or multicolored coat, are often called piebald if their body is almost entirely white or another solid color with spotting and patches on the head and neck. The allele is called sP on the S-locus and is localized with the MITF gene. It is [[recessive]], therefore [[homozygous]] individuals show this coat pattern, whereas the heterozygous [[Genetic carrier|carriers]] can be of solid color.<ref>Genomia: ''[https://www.genomia.cz/en/test/spotting/ White spotting in dogs]''</ref> 
<gallery>
File:Bucovina Sheepdog.jpg|[[Bucovina Shepherd Dog]]
File:Can Setter dog GFDL.jpg|Red [[Irish Setter]] without Piebald spotting
File:Irish Red And White Setter 2005.jpg|Irish Setter red and white due to the Piebald gene
File:Biewer Yorkie.jpg|A Biewer Terrier is a [[Yorkshire Terrier|Blue and Tan Yorkie]] with white coat pattern.
File:Beagle 600.jpg|The [[Beagle]] is usually tricolor by the Piebald gene.
File:Jack Russell Jackie.jpg|Jack Russell Terrier with recessive red and Piebald spotting. 
</gallery>

==Other animals==
[[File:Pica pica -Poland-8.jpg|thumb|[[Eurasian magpie]] (''P. pica'')]]

Many other animal species may also be "pied" or piebald including, but not limited to, [[bird]]s and [[squirrel]]s. A piebald [[Eastern gray squirrel]] named [[Pinto Bean (squirrel)|Pinto Bean]] gained prominence at the [[University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign]] after many students shared pictures and videos of it online.<ref name="news-gazette">{{cite news |last=Simmons |first=Ethan |title=Farewell to 'Pinto Bean,' UI's precious piebald squirrel |url=https://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/university-illinois/farewell-to-pinto-bean-uis-precious-piebald-squirrel/article_15a69d01-c806-58d0-b3bb-8b444a36f445.html |newspaper=The News-Gazette |access-date=17 February 2023 |date=13 October 2022 }}</ref> [[Snake]]s, especially [[ball python]]s and [[corn snake]]s, may also exhibit seemingly varying patches of completely pigmentless scales along with patches of pigmented scales. In 2013, a piebald [[Python brongersmai|blood python]] was discovered in [[Sumatra]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?197016-Piebald-bloods&p=2099148#post2099148 |title=Piebald Bloods |website=Ball-Pythons.net }}</ref> Some [[domesticated silver fox]]es born from the Russian Institute of Cytology and Genetics also carry this coloring.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}

[[Bicolor cat]]s carry the white spotting gene (incorrectly called the piebald gene). The same pattern that applies to cats also applies to dogs when the white spotting gene involved is indeed piebald and not another white-causing gene found in dogs. The piebald gene is also found in cows, ferrets, domestic goats, goldfish, guinea pigs, hamsters, rabbits, and fancy rats.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}

<gallery>
File:Bicolor cat - Black and White.jpg|[[Bicolor cat]]
File:Holstein heifer.jpg|[[Holstein Friesian cattle|Holstein cow]]
File:Hausmeerschweinchen drei.JPG|[[Guinea pig]]s
File:Mesocricetus auratus.jpg|[[Hamster]]
File:Salon agriculture 2009 - furet recentre.jpg|[[Ferret]]
File:Goat بز 09.jpg|[[Goat]]
File:Piebald Squirrel Pinto Bean.jpg|[[Squirrel]]
File:North Potomac, United States (Unsplash).jpg|[[Deer]]
</gallery>
[[Holstein Friesian cattle|Holstein]] and [[Simmental cattle|Simmental]] breeds of cattle typically exhibit [[piebaldism]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fontanesi |first1=L. |last2=Scotti |first2=E. |last3=Russo |first3=V. |title=Haplotype variability in the bovine MITF gene and association with piebaldism in Holstein and Simmental cattle breeds |journal=Animal Genetics |date=15 September 2011 |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=250–256 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2052.2011.02242.x |pmid=22486495 |issn=1365-2052 }}</ref>

==See also==
===Horse coat===
*[[Equine coat color]]
* [[Equine coat color genetics]]
* [[Pinto horse]]
*[[Tricoloured (horse)]]

===Pigmentation===
* [[Albinism]]
* [[Amelanism]]
* [[Dyschromia]]
* [[Erythrism]]
* [[Heterochromia iridum]]
* [[Leucism]]
* [[Melanism]]
* [[Piebaldism]]
* [[Skewbald]]
* [[Vitiligo]]
* [[Xanthochromism]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite journal|last=Schaible |first=R. H. |date=1969 |title=Clonal Distribution of Melanocytes in Piebald-spotted and Variegated Mice |journal=Journal of Experimental Zoology |volume=172 |issue=2 |pages=181–200 |doi=10.1002/jez.1401720205|pmid=5372006|bibcode=1969JEZ...172..181S }}
* {{cite book |last=Schaible |first=R. H. |editor1-last=Andrews |editor1-first=E. J. |editor2-last=Ward |editor2-first=B. C. |editor3-last=Alatman |editor3-first=N. H. |date=1979 |title=Spontaneous Animal Models of Human Disease |pages=11–16 |publisher=Academic Press |location=New York }}
** Chapter 146, "Introduction to Hypopigmentation"
** Chapter 147, "Albinism"
** Chapter 148, "Piebaldism"
** Chapter 149, "Vitiligo"
* {{cite web |author=Veterinary Genetics Laboratory |url=https://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/coatcolor.php |title=Introduction to Coat Color Genetics |website=School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis |access-date=12 January 2008 }}

==External links==
{{EB1911 poster|Pie}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.oodmag.com/community/showthread.php?42767-PieBald-Moose |title=Piebald Moose |date=17 March 2012 |work=[[Ontario Out of Doors]] |access-date=15 December 2014}} (extremely rare wild piebald moose photographed in northwest [[Alberta]], Canada)

{{Equine coat colors}}

[[Category:Animal coat colors]] <!-- Per dogs, goats, etc. -->
[[Category:Bird colours]]
[[Category:Cat coat types]]
[[Category:Disturbances of pigmentation]]
[[Category:Dog anatomy]]
[[Category:Horse coat colors]]