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Originally Posted by OwnedByJezebel  We see the assumption in many books that the Maltese was used in the development of the YT. It's only a guess, because we have no records that prove it one way or another.
What I don't understand, so somebody please correct me if I am wrong .... the coat color genes that produce the pure white of the Maltese are different from the genes that cause a parti-color coat. So if the Maltese was used, wouldn't there be some pure white Yorkies popping up, however rare? I just don't see parti-color YT's as proof that a Maltese is in the background. It doesn't mean they aren't in the background, either, just that parti color came from somewhere else. Dog Coat Colour Genetics |
Every dog that has been posted as being in the makeup of the breed, has been an assumption. Even the AKC stated that, in the scanned book page I previously posted.
The maltese color is a result of the extreme white piebald gene. This was confirmed to me by D. Phillip Sponenberg, DVM, PhD Professor Pathology/Genetics, Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology at the University of VA, and it's also noted in Malcom Willis's book "Genetics of the Dog."
There are early illustrations of maltese with piebald coloring and tan or black ears ... and in the early 1900's, there were standards and show classes for colored Maltese (if I recall correctly ... I'll try to find that info).
I'm sure the piebald and other color genes came from some of the other terrier type dogs as seen in the pictures I posted ... there were many dogs who carried the piebald gene in the 1800's