[Alpacasite] Detecting Genetic Collagen Ear Defect

As a relative newcomer to the industy I haven't inspected that many alpaca ears, but would
be interested in any advice on examining alpacas for the collagen-type genetic ear defect.
Apparently, it is not always clearly expressed in some animals that have passed this defect
along.

I have read descriptions of narrowed ear canals and various lumps, bumps, and swelling.
There are pictures of animals with severe expression that show obvious deformity, but of
more concern to me is detecting animals that have inherited the condition and exhibit only
a mild expression, but are apparently capable of producing offspring with more extreme
problems. Also, does this condition resemble scarring as a result of aural hematoma? Is
there any way to tell the difference? Is there any evidence that this condition results in
more ear infections or other ear problems?

Information seems a bit hard to come by, but what I have read is that this is suspected to
be a simple dominant gene, with varying degrees of expression. Is there any new
information that it is a more complicated inheritance, or any evidence that it is gender
specific? I have not seen any examples of a mother with mild or severe expression that
have passed this along.

I did some limited searching of the archives on this site, but didn't find much. Was there a
month/year when such discussions took place?

Too many questions? 8-)

As I said, I am a newcomer to alpacas. If I am making any unwarranted assumptions or if I
seem to have bad information please feel free to correct - I'm not proud. Also feel free to
contact me off-site.

Thanks,

Jeff Groene
a749970@cox.net

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