Does this cute dog have one of the rarest genetic mutations on Earth? Photograph showing pups contrasting coat colors sets off speculation he is a mythic chimera

By JAMES NYE

PUBLISHED: 23:45, 24 July 2013 | UPDATED: 23:53, 24 July 2013

Chimera? With his yellow and black coat - speculation is rife online that Bull is a chimera - half yellow Lab and half black Lab

An intriguing photograph of a dog sporting two distinct colors of markings has set off speculation that it might be an extremely rare genetic mutation known as a chimera.

A chimera is an animal made from two different species and in Bull the dog's case that is suspected to be a black Labrador and a yellow Labrador.

Currently a patient at Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, Bull is going through a series of tests to determine whether his split genetic makeup will be recognized.

Last year it was a cat that came to the attention of the Internet - born with a perfectly divided face - one half black while the other was calico.

If that wasn't enough, Venus the cat's eyes are completely different colors too - once is ice blue and the other is an unusual shade of green.

Unlike Bull, Venus is officially recognized as a chimera cat because her genetic composition was tested and her different eye colors are caused by heterochromia.

So popular has Venus become that her Youtube videos posted online have been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people and her Facebook page has over 20,000 likes.

Venus’ proud owner describes her lovingly as a ‘gentle’ and ‘perfect’ pet with a deceptively big appetite.

Unusual Genetic Mutation: Venus the cat is definitely a chimera - highlighted by her different colored coat and eyes

‘As tiny as she is she likes to pick the giant pieces of food from the dog food bowl rather than eat her cat food,’ the owner writes on Venus’ Facebook page.

So rare are chimera animals that they are barely detectable by human eyes and in the past most known cases have been of cats or mice.

Chimera: Inspired by Ancient Greece and Explained by Modern Science

• The chimera was a creature from Greek mythology.
• It was a hybrid creature, consisting of the front of a lion, the back of a goat, and a snake tail. Though female, it had the mane of a male lion.
• The genetic mutation known as a chimera is hyrbird creature made up of a combination of two different animals.
• A chimera is basically twins in one body and occurs during gestation when twins are conceived but one dies during the pregnancy.
• However, instead of the dead twin being lost, the two embryos fuse together, leaving one single embryo that has two different sets of genetic material.
• Many chimeras have no obvious signs of their twin DNA's - while others have very visible color and eye differences.
• If a chimera is produced from opposite sex twins, it is also possible for abnormalities to occur in the genitals.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2377085/Bull-dog-chimera-contrasting-color-coat.html#ixzz2a5m6Xm2h
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