Originally Posted By: CT Shamrock
Do you believe the anecdotal evidence is valid-- that black or nearly black is a rare color?
Id have to say that I do. Im no geneticist, but I would say that this darker color phase arises when some recessive allele is expressed. You hit the nail on the head by saying that for a number of reasons this darker color is not to the yotes benefit. Now given that throughout most of the yotes' range (certainly in the east) there is no "higher" predator exhibiting some form of selective pressure on coyotes other than humans.
However, as with many other "conditions" or "traits" many have always been rare. That is to say that the reason they are rare today is not that they have been selected against for x number of years, they were just never that prevalent to begin with.
You are right to question anecdotal evidence though. Too much of that becomes what I call "dogma". Unproven science that through verbal repetition becomes "fact."
Jake