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Someone PLEASE explain to me the generation indicators

A

A_Kendergirl

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I know I've heard it explained before...but for some reason I can't quite wrap my mind around it. Let take Brimstone and Lost (who just had eggs....yipee!). They came from other breeders....so would they be F0 and their offspring F1?? Or would they, as the first adults be F1?? I'm so confused.

Also...I know that both F1 x F2 and F2 x F2 can give you F3

BUT does F2 x F5 still give you F6?

AND what happens when you bring in new blood? Does the scale start over? F0 (if there is such a thing) x F6 = F1 or F7?? :ack2:

Someone please help!
 
I used to breed bettas and used generation indicators for every spawn.. has been a few years but if I remember it right it worked like this for them. If your first pair are unrelated then their offspring are F1. If you then breed their offspring together the resulting offspring will be F2. Breed a pair of their offspring and you get F3. And so on.. but like I said it has been a few years and I cannot remember what to label them if you breed a F2 and F5.. but probably would be an F6...
 
The P (parent) generation is the two parents when you're talking about a new cross. When you continue to breed on the same line, it goes F1, F2, etc.

If you were to outcross, you would start over at the P generation.

For example, if you buy two unrelated animals and breed them to each other you could call the offspring the F1. If you sell a pair of sibling F2s and the buyer breeds them together, they would be producing an F3 generation from that project.

So the same individual could be in the P generation of one project and F3 generation of another project. :)
 
Hmmmm, I guess for Leos P = a particular line. I had always been confused on how this works too. Very good info.
 
A_Kendergirl said:
BUT does F2 x F5 still give you F6?
Click to expand...
I have not been able to find a definitive answer to this one, but I've seen the result of F2 X F2, and P X F2, and F1 X F2 all being referred to as F3, which to me says that F2 X F5 gives you F6... :)
 
Ah....it's all coming together now...excellent. I feel like steeple-ing my finger like Mr. Burns.
 
Pedigrees can get so convoluted that a pretzell looks straight in comparison. Try applying the F number system to a song called something like "I'm My Own Grandpa"! :crazy03:

The F number system was not designed for anything so complicated. Even in genetics, where it was originated, it usually isn't used past the F2 generation, except maybe in plant genetics, where self-fertilization is practiced. For most people's purposes, a pedigree chart is much superior.
 
What has been discussed so far is the use of the filial generation numbering system within a specific project.
Keep in mind that the same system has been adapted to refer to generations removed from the wild. You see it fairly regularly with gray banded kings for instance. In fact when I see it used in classified ads it is most often referring to this.
In this usage, F1 refers to the offspring of WC parents. F2 are the grandchildren of WC parents and so on. In the event you breed an F2 to an F5 then the resulting offspring are F3. Since The F2 parent is the closest to it's wild ancestor you add one to that number for the offspring.
The double use of the system fosters confusion no doubt.

I see the benefit of using the system to denote generations removed from the wild. Unless you are just using it within your own project though it's less useful in that application. Let's say you were producing the F3 generation of a project designed to intensify the tangerine on a leopard gecko. If I were to buy one of these offspring, I have no reason to care that it's an F3 because that will be lost anyway once it entered my breeding group.
However, nothing changes the generations a given snake is removed from the wild, so breeders of certain species so use those numbers in advertising the offspring.
I agree with Paul in the case of keeping track of a particular breeding project. A simple chart is much more effective.

I would also note that the use of filial numbering to denote generations removed from the wild is not actually a proper usage scientifically. However, as with several other terms and things, the hobbyist community has misapplied scientific references to a point is has become entirely commonplace and therefore within the hobby, this double meaning to the terms has become established.
 
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