The Dusk Gene

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What will your new gene be called? The Dusk Gene. This gene leaves the barrel of the horse as the base colour for the longest point, one bright point of light in an otherwise dark space, much like the setting sun at twilight. 

What will the genotype be? nDu, DuDu. This gene is recessive, needing two copies to appear. However, it is known to react to Grey (nG, GG), Sooty (nSty, StySty) and visible Tiger Dun (nD/nTs, DD/nTs, nD/TsTs, DD/TsTs). Carried Tiger Dun does not trigger this gene.

Is your gene a pattern, a coat color, or a dilution? This is a progressive gene that darkens the whole of the body, finally turning the entire coat black at the final stage. See Age Progression Key at bottom for stages.

How does it work? The gene causes a overproduction of melanin within the coat of the horse. All cases start at the base of the tail, turning the hairs sooty black, before progressing onto boney areas of the body, eg. lower legs, face, hips/elbows. As the horse ages, it darkens from the extremities in towards the center of the body, ending finally with the belly/barrel of the horse. Hooves are the last things to begin to darken, normally later in life. Eyes are not affected. This gene affects males and females equally.

 *UPDATED!* When paired with visible Tiger Dun, the Dusk gene will activate, but it does not work uniformly on the coat. Instead, it causes the Dusk-affected base coat to appear between and around the striped areas with wide sharp edged halos between and around all visible striping. These Halos are always the normal coat colour of the Anomali as they would appear without the Dusk gene, and do not darken. All areas of the coat that are not striped, including mane and hooves, etc will progress as per normal Dusk.
- Tiger Dun with Dusk Example - Final Stage, Tiger Dun with Dusk. 
- Dusk with Tiger Dun: Salamander Design | Yermolai

 When paired with the Sooty Gene, (nSty StySty), the effect is massively sped up, with horses of 5-9 years of age showing Stage 4 or 5 where they would normally only show Stage 2 or 3 without the Sooty Gene. Foals with StySty have been known to show extensive darkening by the age of two. Sooty does NOT manifest normally, and instead focuses within the areas of Dusk, speeding up the process, and does not show on other parts of the coat.

 When paired with Greying, both nG and GG, the Dusk Gene swiftly overrides the lightening effect of grey. If anything, the horse will simply lose all coat color, and appear matte black as the grey works under the Dusk to bleach the coat. Grey does not affect the speed of the darkening within Dusk. Eg. Dusk Gene with Greying

 Dusk also affects feathers, causing wings and plumage to molt in black over time. Scales (scales can molt in one at a time, or in groups), fins, tails, skin, paw pads, whiskers, nails and all other bodily appendages are also affected.

**Foals do NOT show any sign of darkening at birth. Stage one normally appears around two to four years old and progresses steadily from there.**

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Age Progression Key - No Sooty:
Progression past age 11 varies according to individuals.
Newborn
Stage 1 - Ages 2 - 4
Stage 2 - Ages 5 -7
Stage 3 - Ages 8 - 10
Stage 4 - Ages 15 ~
Stage 5 - Ages 20 ~
Stage 6 - Ages 30 ~
Final Stage - Ages 35+

Age Progression Key - Sooty (nSty):
Individuals with Sooty/Dusk are born at Stage 1
Stage 1 - Newborn
Stage 2 - Ages 1 - 2
Stage 3 - Ages 3 - 4
Stage 4 - Ages 5 - 9
Stage 5 - Ages 10 - 12
Stage 6 - Ages 13 - 15
Final Stage - Ages 16+

Age Progression Key - Dominant Sooty (StySty): 
Individuals with Dominant Sooty/Dusk are born at Stage 3. Once born, this is an extremely rapid progression.
Stage 4 - Ages 2 - 5
Stage 5 - Ages 6 - 7
Stage 6 - Ages 8 - 9
Final Stage - Ages 10+

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Questions/Information:

 Does this gene cause the body color to go to black, or does it cause it to go to the darkest shade of a coat colour? IE. Does/can it cause a palomino to turn a very dark, almost black gold color or does it only go to black? 
 
 All coat colours will eventually turn black. This is not a darkening of the shade. It does not matter if there is cream or another dilution present. The coat in the final stage retains a VERY FAINT tonal value according to the original coat colour. Eg. Red/Gold Base/Warm Toned - Red Tone, Black/Grey/Cold Toned - Blue/Grey Tone.
WARM TONE: image.shutterstock.com/z/stock…
COLD TONE: c3.staticflickr.com/4/3398/359…

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 How does it react with Paint patterns? Does it stay below these markings, or does it cover? How does it react with Rosette, Countered, etc? 

 Dusk covers ALL patterns, all genes. It does not matter if they're natural or Anom specific. The only exception is Tiger Dun, as stated above.

 *UPDATED!* Scorch/Inverse Scorch, as it is a gene removal tool, would likely be able to remove Dusk and its progression from areas of the body/wings/feathers/scales/horns, etc.

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 Is there an inverse of this gene? (Eg. Fades to white rather than black?)

 No. There is no inverse. The closest thing that exists is Greying or Vitiligo (Progressive full body or patch specific), both of which are covered by Dusk.

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Updated: 10/07/2018

 How does Dusk interact with the magical tattoo ink available through the Salamander/Token Rewards Centers?

 Since the ink is magically based, it does not darken like the base coat colour. The ink will always be visible, no matter how dark the individual gets.

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Updated: 9/24/2021

 How does Dusk interact with Albino and Melanistic?

 Since Albino functions as a lack of pigment cells, Dusk does not affect it. With Melanism, it would speed up JUST a bit, and the Anomali would get darker faster.

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