Designing your Dino
Designing your dinosaur can be tricky, but it doesn't have to be hard! Here is a layout to help you be able to read your genotype and phenotype, and how to apply those things to your dinosaur.
Before anything, your dinosaur's species and any mutations are listed. You can view all of the current dinosaur species here. There are several mutations that can affect the way your dinosaur looks, so make sure you pay attention to that. The big three are Normal (Nn) Bald (Bb) And Feathered (Ff). Normal dinosaurs may already have feathers or may only have scales. Regardless, feathered and bald dinosaurs will have noticeable differences, and the effects of mutations will be detailed below.
Base Coats
The base coat is always the first thing listed in a dinosaur's genotype. All base coats can be found here. The base coat image will have the standard coat on the left, with dark and black markings being in the middle and the lighter and white markings being on the right. The dinosaur's primary color should never be pulled from these dark and light colors and are only there to give a wider range of shades for players to choose for markings. When breeding dinosaurs of two different colors, the offspring may have any color in between the two colors as seen on the color wheel (going clockwise).
Genetics can be a very fun and engaging pastime. To keep things enjoyable and at least somewhat educational, genes have been simplified a little bit for gameplay purposes. Genes with all caps, such as ApAp are dominant and may not be hidden on the dinosaur. Genes with only some caps such as Apap can be hidden as a recessive trait. Free markings do not come up in the genotype or phenotype but may be passed down. One example of free marking being passed down are Family Markings. This will be expanded upon in the markings section.
Dinosaurs may have mutations, such as being bald or feathered. Other mutations include heterochromia (Hc), scaled (Sd), chimera (Ch), Double Head (Dh), and Multi-Limbed (Ml). The last two mutations become more likely to roll as dinosaurs become inbred. However, be careful when inbreeding. You risk the chance of empty or dead eggs.
Registering Your Finished Design
Make sure to follow all of the steps for designing your dinosaur before submitting! Read over this page to make sure you follow all of the required steps.