C. G. P.

Breeds

as described by square enix

Rounsey

With its huge population of adventurers, Jeuno boasts more frequent use of chocobos than any other nation. The main type of chocobo to be found in the duchy is the mid-sized rounsey. The pride of the famous trainer Brutus and his family, the rounsey is the result of a lengthy breeding program involving wild chocobos. This program has produced a robust mount of somewhat unpredictable temperament that is suited for long, punishing treks.

Jennet

This breed of chocobo has been magically reduced in size to provide mounts for the diminutive Tarutaru. They have short legs when compared to other breeds, but like the Tarutaru themselves, jennets are capable of maintaining a rapid pace. Due to a request from the southern Mithra wishing to blend into the jungle, there are some jennets that can be found in a shade of green.

Palfrey

The mid-sized palfreys were bred to withstand the searing air and blazing heat of the desert. They are mainly raised in the Republic of Bastok and on Zepwell Island. With a relatively gentle demeanor, these chocobos are suited for those with who lack advanced riding skills. Palfreys are known to come in both blue and yellow.

Courser

The courser is a larger-than-average chocobo and is the most common breed found in the Kingdom of San d'Oria. They are characterized by their streamlined bodies, and long, graceful legs. They were originally bred for scouting duties, but their adoption into the military was accompanied by a general acceptance of the courser as an everyday mount. On extremely rare occasions, a red-colored courser will be born.

Destrier

These knightly mounts were bred in San d'Oria. They underwent training that allowed them to bear the weight of heavy armor and withstand the shock of cavalry charges. Destriers were characterized by their large, jet-black bodies and thick, powerful legs. With the decline of lance combat and improvements to ranged weaponry, destriers lost their place in battle to the faster coursers. These days, there are no remaining purebred destriers, but it is possible to see their proud bloodlines occasionally reemerge in the birth of rare, black chocobos.

Hypothesis

SE has a history of modeling the world of Vana'diel after the real world. Based upon this and the above information I am making several assumptions about breeding chocobos in Vana'diel. That color is a genetic trait that mimics Mendelian Inheritance and that the above description gives hints about chocobo genetics. This, and the research below, leads us to the following assumptions:

Breed	Phenotype	Genotype
Rounsey		Y?
Jennet		g?
Palfrey	Blue	b?
Courser		r?
Destrier		k?

Remember that this is just a foundational assumption and that some or all of it may be completely wrong. However, you cannot experiment without something to test. Also, there is no real foundation for yellow and blue to be co-dominant and produce green.
Additionally, all yellow chocobos will be considered rounseys until this project is capable of verifying their exact genotype.

Method

All chocobos will be raised with minimal care to disprove any possible link between chocobo attributes and color. This makes raising a chocobo a much simpler processs. Each egg will be watched one hundred times, then left alone until day 19. On day 19 color and sex will be checked. On day 29 the chocobo will be retired and another egg started. Any illnesses will be dealt with by the handlers at the chocobo stables (they will do this). The first goal is to determine the most recessive color. Then this color can be used to determine which colors are recessive to which. These Punnett Squares show some hypothetical crosses involving yellow (Y), a known dominant trait, and red (r), a known recessive trait:

Fig. 1a		Maternal
Fig. 1a		Y	Y
Paternal	Y	YY	YY
Paternal	Y	YY	YY

Fig. 1b		Maternal
Fig. 1b		r	r
Paternal	r	rr	rr
Paternal	r	rr	rr

Similar purebred parents produce purebred progeny.

Fig. 2a		Maternal
Fig. 2a		Y	Y
Paternal	r	Yr	Yr
Paternal	r	Yr	Yr

Fig. 2b		Maternal
Fig. 2b		r	r
Paternal	Y	Yr	Yr
Paternal	Y	Yr	Yr

Different purebred parents produce hybrid progeny.

Fig. 3		Maternal
Fig. 3		Y	r
Paternal	Y	YY	Yr
Paternal	r	Yr	rr

Hybrid parents produce varied progeny

Fig. 4a		Maternal
Fig. 4a		Y	r
Paternal	Y	YY	Yr
Paternal	Y	YY	Yr

Fig. 4b		Maternal
Fig. 4b		Y	Y
Paternal	Y	YY	YY
Paternal	r	Yr	Yr

A dominant purebred parent will mask or eliminate the recessive trait.

Fig. 5a		Maternal
Fig. 5a		Y	r
Paternal	r	Yr	rr
Paternal	r	Yr	rr

Fig. 5b		Maternal
Fig. 5b		r	r
Paternal	Y	Yr	Yr
Paternal	r	rr	rr

A purebred recessive parent can expose the recessive trait.

Results

punnett squares

Enough data to start making determinations. It seems that red is recessive to black. So far: Yellow > Black > Green > Red and Blue being an effect of Yellow and Green combined. HumbleGreen demonstrates this, he should be Yg if Green is the most recessive color. HumbleGreen's phenotype is Yellow which shows that he obtained a non-green trait from ExcellentHope. Crossing Green and Black should produce only green or black chococbos. See the new Punnett Square page for analysis.