Harlequin rabbit clarification

[Tinted]

I have seen a few misinformed people classify Magpies and Harlequins as two different "types" of rabbits.

As a clarification: Harlequin is a pattern type as well as a breed of rabbit. Magpie and Japanese are the colors the harlequin pattern comes in.

A MAGPIE is a rabbit with the harlequin pattern type in white and any other color (generally dark color).
A JAPANESE (also called a Jap by breeders) is a rabbit with the harlequin pattern type with brown and any other dark color.

This is a Magpie rabbit which is a Harlequin rabbit (the breed):

This is a JAP Harlequin rabbit:

 

[tunaoftheland]

that first rabbit is beautiful! The black and white is really striking. I have always liked Harlequins, I am glad to have the clarification.

 

[Skyesrocket]

Good info. Tks. What is a harlequin with a white band called? Mutt maybe? It's a rex.

 

[Bunnylady]

Mags usually win BOB and BOS at shows, because the contrast of the pattern against that white makes such an impact. If a Jap wins, you know that animal is something else!

I have heard that in Europe, what we call the Magpie is their Harlequin, and our Japanese is their Japanese too, but considered a separate breed.

Skyesrocket, a (Japanese) harlie with white is technically a tricolor, but I'm not sure - are you talking about a band like a Dutch?

 

[Skyesrocket]

I just saw him at a friends house the other day. He is harlequin except for white around his hips. None on the neck.

 

[lorieMN]

the magpie looks like a merle or parti merle dog,,the jap looks like a tortie cat..I like the magpie best

 

[IcarusSomnio]

Quote:
Could just be a broken Harlequin. Does he gave any white on the face?


I just lost my Vienna Japanese Harlequin buck. Very sad day

He was going to be one of the founding sires of my BEW's. I don't think I'll find another one like him.

This was my guy:
http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/161/4/6/Pumpkin_King_by_IcarusSomnio.jpg

 

[muddyhorse]

I was told this little guy was a harlequin, is he ? He was given to me because a littermate scratched his eye all better now. he is a pet I'm just curious about the color

he lives in the DDs room now and likes to watch Phineas and Pherb on disney

 

[Tinted]

Quote:
Could just be a broken Harlequin. Does he gave any white on the face?


I just lost my Vienna Japanese Harlequin buck. Very sad day

He was going to be one of the founding sires of my BEW's. I don't think I'll find another one like him.

This was my guy:
http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/161/4/6/Pumpkin_King_by_IcarusSomnio.jpg

There is no such thing as a broken Harlie, physically it’s impossible. Seeing as how proper harlies are banded and a broken rabbit cannot be banded. Not to mention the fact that harlies are all essentialy broken in pattern.

The lionhead is adorable; however every color under the sun is coming out of lionheads at the moment; which is mostly why after nearly two decades they have yet to be accepted as an ARBA breed. It is a magpie harlequin; however it is not properly marked if you wanted to become specific. For a pet, it is as cute as can be!

The harlequin should in accordance to color pattern (magpie or jap) follow the guidelines below:
Jap:

Magpie:

 

[Bunnylady]

Quote:
I'm not quite sure what you were trying to say, but it certainly is possible to have a broken harlie (small "h," as in the pattern, not the breed). Harlies are not essentially brokens, broken is an entirely different gene. The allele that causes the harlequin pattern occurs in the "E" series. En, the broken gene, is at a totally separate locus. Just because a rabbit has two colors in its coat, doesn't make it a broken! Himi's aren't brokens, nor are Dutch; and they are always some other color plus white.

The broken gene creates a specific, easily recognisable pattern. There is some color on the ears, some around the eyes, some on the nose, some on the back. The paws are almost always white, there is almost always white on the chest and belly. Depending on how many pattern enhancing genes are involved, you may have a great pattern, or a poor one, but it is clearly the broken pattern.

The harlequin gene causes some areas in the coat to be flooded with eumelanin (the black pigment) and some areas wind up entirely lacking it. In breeds like the Rhinelander, the areas of black and orange are fairly small, not at all like the big bands of color we require of the Harlie. The harlequin gene is responsible for the black and orange appearing in separate areas of the hair, there are other genes that dictate just where and how big those areas are. The Rhinelander also has the broken gene, so showable Rhinelanders are all (genetically) broken harlequins (small "h"). In the areas where color appears on the Rhinelander, there are supposed to be both black and orange hairs visible. In fact, having too much of one color or the other in some areas (to the degree that that area is only one color) is a DQ. The rex breeds and some lop breeds don't recognise the solid harlequin, but they do recognise the broken harlequin, referring to it in their standards as the tricolor.