Golden rhesus macaque phenotype

Clear examples of Mendelian traits are uncommon in wild population, especially among primates. The "golden" rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) phenotype is a naturally occurring, inherited trait with a distinct pigmentation pattern resulting in light blonde colored fur that we demonstrate arises from specific point mutations. The data contained herein are from a population of rhesus macaque with the golden phenotype, carriers of the golden alleles, and wildtype individuals. From analysis of these data, we have uncovered two missense variants were identified associated with the phenotype that are within genes involved in the melanogenesis pathway.