Genes

A **gene** is a hereditary trait that is passed from parent to offspring. In Niche, there are 111 different genes, in 21 different categories, each of which affects a different body part, appearance or ability of the nicheling. These types of genes are:

Ear, Horn, Eye, Head, Body, Paws, Hind Legs, Tail, Albinism, Melanism, Fur Color, Eye Color, Horn Color, Pattern Color, Pattern, Pattern Shape, Pattern Density, Pattern Size, Blood Clotting, Fertility, and Immunity.

If you are looking for genes in the mobile game, read about them here.

## **Genetics Basics**

Niche genetics are based on real genetics in animals, but very simplified. Each of the 21 gene locations in a nicheling's DNA string has a variety of different genes a nicheling can have (e.g. one gene location for different types of ears). Each gene consists of two **alleles** (=gene copies). Every gene is combined by one allele passed down from the mother and one allele passed down from the father. It's a 50% chance which one of a parent's two alleles gets passed down. There is only on exception to this: Blood Clotting, which is linked with the X chromosome. Since male nichelings only have a single X chromosome, they only have one allele for Blood Clotting which they will pass on 100%.

In general, any gene location can have two alleles that are identical (=homozygous) or different (=heterozygous). For most gene locations, only the more **dominant** allele will be expressed, while the other one is **recessive** and will be inactive. This is called **complete dominance**. Most genes in the game follow a linear order of dominance, meaning that there's one gene that's dominant to all other genes in that location and the line of dominance goes down until the lowest gene in the order that is recessive to every other gene. Therefore, dominant / recessive is always *relative* to the two alleles present - dominant refers to the “stronger” one and recessive to the “weaker” one (this has nothing to do with the strength or usefulness of the ability a gene gives the nicheling).

   The **dominant** allele will be displayed in the upper gene slot and decides the **phenotype** (=outward appearance, but also abilities tied to the gene). The **recessive** allele in the lower gene slot is displayed in a darker shade, showing that it is inactive. Recessive genes are not part of the phenotype and do not give abilities, but are part of the nicheling's **genotype** – this means they remain in the DNA and can be passed on to offspring just as likely as the dominant gene - a 50% chance. *Only when looking at the phenotype without knowing the recessive genes (e.g. in Blind Genes sandbox mode) will it seem like the more recessive gene is passed on less, because it is only expressed when a nicheling has two copies of the same gene, instead of one copy of the more dominant gene common in your nicheling pack.*

Some genes do not follow the concept of complete dominance. There are two other types of dominance:

**Incomplete Dominance** means that two different alleles will combine and create a mixed phenotype. This is the case with Fur Color, Horn Color, and Pattern Color: having two different color alleles will result in a mixed color (e.g. Black Fur + White Fur = Grey Fur). With the Fertility genes, different levels of #Fertility will add up to a combined total.

**Co-Dominance** means that features of two different alleles will show up in the phenotype (imagine a flower has a red petal allele and a blue petal allele, resulting in a flower with some red and some blue petals). This is how Paw genes work: both the mother's and father's gene will be expressed as one paw each in the phenotype!

Co-Dominance is also the case, in a technical sense, with Immunity genes. You could say that two different Immunity genes each offer their own type of protection which helps the nicheling to stay healthy. Without this co-dominant effect, a nicheling with only one type of immunity is having a reduced lifespan (see #Immunity)

Some genes can also get inactivated completely by other genes, affecting both alleles:

* If a nicheling has active Albinism, Melanism or "No Pattern", then all other pattern genes (pattern type/size/density/shape/color) are inactivated.
* Spiky Body inactivates tail genes.
* Bat Head inactivates ear genes.

Remember that inactive genes are still part of the genotype and can be passed on to offspring!

## Mutation

*Main article: Mutations*
All unlocked genes are able to be mutated into your population through breeding. Some genes are available to mutate from the start, while others must be unlocked by meeting a certain condition or completing a requirement. Unlocking all genes will earn you the 'Natural Selector' achievement.

## Genes and Gene Dominance

### Ears

Ear genes affect the abilities Hearing, Cold Resistance, and Heat Resistance.

Heat Resistance +2
Cold Resistance -1
(Only available in Story Mode.)

### Horn

Horn genes affect Strength and Weather Prediction.

### Eyes

Eye genes affect Eyesight, Smelling, and Hearing. You will rarely start a storymode game with two nichelings that have 100% normal eyes.

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 3

### Head

Head genes affect the abilities Collecting, Strength, Digging, Cracking, Feeding from the Bottom, Venomous, Strong Voice, Purring, Hearing, Smelling, Underwater Breathing, Distasteful Appearance, Poison Resistance, and Insect Collecting.

### Body

Body genes affect Speed, Swimming, Flight, Strength, Defense, Stealth, Scentless, Stealth, Scentless, Poisonous, Underwater Breathing, Spikyness, Distasteful Appearance, Poison Resistance, Cold Resistance, Heat Resistance, and Heat Radiation.

\*The dominance order of these bodies is not linear, but circular: Spiky Body > Big Body | Big Body > Toxic Body | Toxic Body > Spiky Body

### Paw

Paw genes affect Speed, Swimming, Flying, Collecting, Strength, Digging, Cracking, Fishing, Defense, Stealth, and Cold Resistance. The genes are co-dominant, meaning both paw types will be present. Left paw genes will always come from the mother and right paw genes will always come from the father, though this is purely a cosmetic effect, as paws will give the same abilities no matter which side they're on.

### Hind Leg

Hind Leg genes affect Speed, Swimming, and Strength.

Swimming +1
Swimming +2
Swimming +1
Strength +1

### Tail

Tail genes affect Swimming, Strength, Cracking, Fishing, Venomous, Attractiveness, Distasteful Scent, Poison Resistance, and Cold Resistance.

### Albinism and Melanism

Breeding an albino creature will unlock the 'Albinism' achievement, and having a melanistic nicheling will unlock the 'Melanism' achievement.

### Fur Color

Fur color genes affect the overall color of a creature. The creature's fur color will be a mix of the two genes due to **incomplete dominance**. For example, two white fur genes will produce a white animal, and two black fur genes will produce a black animal, but a black gene and a white gene will produce a grey animal. Fur color can also provide camouflage in different environments. Mixed fur colors stack the camouflages of both colors, which would be co-dominance.

 **Beige Fur** | Savanna Camouflage +2
 **Black Fur** | Jungle Camouflage +2Swamp Camouflage +2

### Eye Color

Eye Color changes the color of a creature's eyes. It is a cosmetic gene and has no other effects.

### Horn Color

The colors are White, Black, Brown, and Red. Due to incomplete dominance, the Horn Color is a mix of the creature's two genes. Horn Color genes affect the color of the horns, but also the color of a bunch of other body features:

* Bird Beak and Platypus beak
* the nose on Sticky Tongue
* nose and whiskers on Purr Snout
* claws on Bat Wing, Claw, Bearyena Claw, Digging Paw
* Hammer Tail and the pattern on Scorpion Tail

### Pattern Color

Pattern Color genes affect the color of a nicheling's pattern and the mane color on male nichelings. Due to incomplete dominance, the mane and pattern color is a mix of both Pattern Color alleles.

### Patterns

The pattern system has four gene types affecting the nicheling's phenotype: Pattern, Pattern Shape, Pattern Density, and Pattern Size. Density and Size are incomplete dominance, allowing for a lot of different combinations. If you want to see an overview of the combinations possible with patterns, the Niche Pattern Project is located here!

Patterns also affect camouflage when the nicheling is standing on certain tiles.

 2
 3
 4

### Pattern Shapes

Each pattern has four distinct shapes: A, B, C, and D. These types influence how the pattern looks. Pattern Shape genes don't follow a linear dominance hierarchy like all other genes, instead it's a circular order of dominance:

 File:Niche Pattern Shape Graph.png
* A is dominant to B,
* B is dominant to C and D,
* C is dominant to D and A,
* D is dominant to A.

#### Special Patterns

Pattern Shape C in combination with the Mask Pattern is associated with a Raccoon pattern, earning an achievement. (Pattern Color White + Pattern Color Black, Fur Color Black, Pattern Shape C, Pattern Mask, Pattern Density Thick or Pattern Density Very Thick, Pattern Size Big or Pattern Size Huge.)

Pattern Shape D in combination with the Mask Pattern is associated with a "panda" pattern. (Pattern Color Black, Fur Color White, Pattern Shape D, Pattern Mask, Pattern Density Thin, Pattern Size Small)

### Blood Clotting

The blood clotting gene affects how much damage occurs from bleeding after being injured. It is a sex-linked gene; females have two copies and males only have one. A male with hemophilia will always pass it on!

 2

### Fertility

Each nicheling has 2 alleles of the fertility gene. Fertility genes work by incomplete dominance, a nicheling's fertility is the sum of both copies of the gene; e.g. an animal with a high fertility gene (+3) and a medium fertility gene (+2) will have 5 fertility. Breeding success depends on the fertility of both partners; infertile animals (0 fertility) are unable to breed at all. Fertility also affects the likelihood of twin births, with higher fertility meaning a higher chance of twins. The highest amount of fertility is 6 (per creature) and 12 in a pair.

The chances of a mating attempt resulting in a pregnancy for each possible sum of fertility in the pair of breeding nichelings are summarized in the table below:

### Immunity

Each nicheling has two alleles for immunity, which are co-dominant. A nicheling with any two different Immunity genes is healthy. A nicheling with two identical Immunity alleles is born with a genetic illness. As genetic illnesses can't be cured, it causes them to live for half the amount of days they normally would, and they can infect other nichelings with a Cold.

There are 12 immunity genes, one of them the special Home Island Immunity (symbolized by a star instead of a letter). Immunity J is the rarest immunity you can get in the game, as it is almost always found exclusively in the jungles.

## Special Genes

### Prehistoric Genes

To unlock these special genes, you must travel to the mountain biome and find an ice block. Once the ice is broken, a nicheling with one of the prehistoric genes will appear and join your tribe. Unlocking all six prehistoric genes will earn you the 'Ice Age' achievement. Breeding a single creature that possesses the Sabertooth Fangs, Mammoth Feet, Hammer Tail, and Megaloceros Horns genes will unlock the 'Prehistoric Hunter' achievement.

### Hybrid Genes

Hybrid genes are unlocked by breeding a nicheling to another species. Currently, nichelings can only breed with bearyenas. The 'Hybrid' achievement, which requires breeding an animal with 12+ strength, can only be achieved with bearyena genes.

Fishing +1
Strength +1
+1 Strong Voice
+1 Distasteful Appearance
+2 Smelling

### Potential/Unknown Genes

There are a few genes that show up through console commands but as of now are unavailable through normal gameplay and are not rendered.

## Trivia

* Accounting for every possible gene combination, there are a total of 4.86466 x 10^24 (4.86 septillion) total possible female nichelings and a total of 3.24311 x 10^24 (3.24 septillion) male nichelings. The difference in possible male and female nichelings is due to blood clotting only appearing once in the genes of males.
* Though Adam in Story Mode always has the same genes, there are a total of 2.02538 x 10^17 (202 quintillion) possibilities for Eve.

1. ↑ Basics of Complete, Incomplete und Co-Dominance
2. ↑ https://niche.fandom.com/wiki/Mutations?commentId=4400000000000030179&replyId=4400000000000072328