First detected eye-opening in albino vs. black coisogenic littermate mice

Black and albino littermate mice of the same inbred strain were compared to see if precocious development of the visual system, as indicated by the first detected eye-opening within a litter, is due to alleles at the albino locus. In 32 litters of C57BL/6J-c2J mice the frequency of first detected eye-opening in albinos was not significant; there were no sex or maternal effects. In 16 litters of B10.D2/nSn-c4J mice the frequency of first detected eye-openings in male, but not female, blacks was significant; there were no maternal effects. The results surely do not rule out the possibility of abnormalities in the timing of the developmental sequence of the visual system in albinos; The entire sequence must be examined with appropriate genetic controls.