Ears position

The shape of the ears is related to the presence of a variant of the MSRB3 gene, which contributes to the fact that the ears can have an erect or pendulous disposition.

Definition

The trait position of the ears refers to the way the ears are carried, either pendulous or erect. The variant is located in the MSRB3 gene, which encodes a protein that appears to be involved in the correct functioning of the ear.

Genetic basis

The presence of two copies of the variant greatly increases the probability of having fully erect ears. Whereas, the absence of either copy increases the probability of the dog showing folded ears. The presence of a single copy of the variant may result in an intermediate phenotype. It should be noted that the morphology of the ears may be influenced by other variants that have not been identified or have not been studied in our test.

Other relevant information

Interestingly, a remarkable correlation was observed between boldness and ear position and size. According to the study by Vaysse et al. (2011), it was found that all dogs with floppy ears, except the Bernese Mountain Dog, were classified as lacking boldness. On several occasions, droopy ears have been singled out as a cause of ear infections. Droopy ears should be checked more regularly by a professional.

Bibliography

Vaysse A, Ratnakumar A, Derrien T,et al. Identification of genomic regions associated with phenotypic variation between dog breeds using selection mapping. PLoS Genet. 2011 Oct;7(10):e1002316.

Webster MT, Kamgari N, Perloski M,et al. Linked genetic variants on chromosome 10 control ear morphology and body mass among dog breeds. BMC Genomics. 2015 Jun 23;16(1):474.