How do pony genetics work?

[Forlong 1,726]

Okay, we've had the genetics of the three tribes touched on.  Implications are that Unicorn and Pegasus genes are recessive, but what about other features?  What are the dominant mane colors?  Coat colors?  Eye colors?  Anything else I've forgotten.

[Kulstor 254]

It is possible that a pony may be a earth pony, unicorn, ect but have some bits of another type.  That may be how an earth pony like Mr. Cake can use his tail a bit like a hand.  I seem to recall he has once or a few times. and he did mention having a unicorn ancestor.  He may have inherited a tiny bit of unicorn traits, just enough to do that.  Pinkie may have unicorn ancestors, that may be how she can do some of the stuff she does.  Maybe she inherited a lot of unicorn magic but has no horn.  Why Fluttershy is good with animals.  Though I'd say she's not that bad of a flyer, just that she has severe performance anxiety. 

 

I've not looked at the various colors so I'm not sure if certain genders tend to be certain types of colors or shades, except that all of celestia's guards tend to be white, with a few exceptions maybe.  Though that could be an illusion done by their armor maybe. 

[Planty 1,053]

This may be a bit of an anticlimactic answer but;

 

MAGIC!

 

When you look at Baby cakes it almost feels like there genes don't quite work the same way, especially when compared to other cannon family's which tend to be all of the same race. 

 

Admittedly I don't really know enough about genes and genetics past the basics to really analyse it, but the shows creators won't have done much though about it either .

 

In any case. everything in Equestria seems to be controllable by Celestia, maybe she just chooses?

[silverreverb 129]

for the most part, families of a single type tend to stay that type, unless there's some mixing then it seems like a genetic dartboard /=|

 

as far as dominant colors, it seems that females are brightly colored. most mares tend to be some shade of pink or purple with the occasional blue, green or yellow. and the manes for the most are a color that matches or compliments the main color. haven't really focused on the eyes to see any trends pop up.

 

stallions on the other hand tend to be more muted colors. with the exception of big mac, almost all of the stallions on the show have been some shade of white, gray, or brown. it appear they also follow a similar mane color rule to mares

[An Old Head 4,816]

Some ponies' colour schemes are actually a complete inversion of other ponies' colour schemes; showing hue correlation between eye colour and coat colour, for example. Take Applejack when you invert the hues of her coat and eye colour, she ends up with Rainbow Dash's coat and eyes - at the same time Pinkie Pie ends up with roughly Lyra's coat and eyes.

 

 

and if you do the same for Rainbow Dash, she has Applejack's eyes and coat colour... Fluttershy has Vinyl's eyes and coat colour. It shows that the difference between the colour of their eyes and the colour of their coat have a distinct link

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[pinkiefan1287 610]

I think if a pony family has a baby, there is at least a 50% chance it well have only a few key simulates to the parents.

 

For example. If we look at Mr. Cake and Pumpkin Cake, we can see that they have many simulates. 

 

 

 

 

Both have an orange mane and similar coat colors. Even their tales look the same. If you also like at Twilight and Shining Armor, both seem to have the a second color going threw their manes. 

Edited September 10, 2013 by pinkiefan1287

[An Old Head 4,816]

Oh, one other thing - notice how the Apple siblings have alternating mane and coat colours? They're either red, orange, or yellow. Applejack has an orange coat and yellow mane, Apple Bloom has a yellow coat and red mane, Big Mac has a red coat and orange mane. Maybe it's meant to symbolise their unity as a family, but it could be related to genetics.

 

[Frith is Magick 1,471]

Ponies are born as one of the three tribes, and has all the characteristics of that tribe. They may have traits or abilities that don't match the norm, but this could be a complete fluke. If a pony is of one tribe, but has inherited traits from another, it is always in a very subtle, muted way. 

 

Let us take a pure-blood Pegasus and a pure-blood Unicorn. If they have a foal, it will be either a Unicorn or a Pegasus. If a Unicorn, it would likely have an aptitude for magic relating to levitation or weather. If a Pegasus, they may either have an aptitude for studying or simply have a limited access to magic that might make them able to achieve greater physical feats. The reason it must be fully one or the other is that the breeding of a Unicorn and a Pegasus would yield a pony physically resembling an alicorn.

 

In general, family members share a few general features. You can tell if somepony is an Apple or Twilight's great aunt's second cousin twice removed's older sister (Pinkie Pie breaks this rule, however). Genetics and family resemblance are essentially the same topic. My opinion is that a pony resembles their family's in general, but just like with humans, they may not look like their immediate family.

[Scootalove 10,689]

Pony genetics go like this, if your a unicorn and your married to a pegasus then you have a foal there is a 50/50 chance of either having a unicorn or a pegasus foal.