# Isabelle question



## Albannai (Jan 21, 2001)

I know that (Isabelle) is a dominant opal white bar. But, why is called Isabelle. Anyone knows where I can find information about it?


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## 12Ka-6 (Sep 4, 2012)

Albannai, this applies to the term Isabelle as the lighter color of Palomino horses, but may be where the term started.

"Isabelline and Isabella are terms applied in Europe to very pale palomino or cremello horses, animals with a coat colour that is variously described as cream, pale gold or almost white; this is the primary usage of the French (isabelle) and German (Isabella) versions of the word. In horses, this colour is created by the action of the cream gene, an incomplete dominant dilution gene that produces a horse with a gold coat and dark eyes when heterozygous, and a light cream-coloured horse with blue eyes when homozygous. Queen Isabella of Spain loved palominos and kept a stable to breed them. Cortez brought some of Queen Isabella's Palominos with him to America in 1519. The name 'Palomino' likely comes from Juan de Palomino, who received one of these golden horses from Cortez. It is also possible they were named after a golden-colored Spanish grape called 'Palomino'. In Spain, horses of this color are called Ysabellas, after Isabella, and even today Palominos are sometimes called 'Isabellas' -- especially the lighter shades".


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## rudolph.est (May 14, 2009)

There are also similarly named mutations in finches (eg. canaries), some psittacines (like rosellas and ringnecks) and even some galliformes (like ringneck pheasants). 

Even though there really isn't much similarity between the 'looks' of these genes birdkeepers who breed more than one species sometimes use the names for the look of one species to describe another, and it ends up sticking. I think the loan probably came from canaies, which also have opal and isabel mutations which are sometimes confused somewhat. I think that the satinette name is also shared between pigeons and canaries, even though the expression differs considerably.

In short, don't put too much stock in the name. You might as well ask why opal is called opal - the colors on an opal pigeon look very little like opal semi-precious stones, nor like the opal of canaries or rosellas or ringnecks.


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