Editing Fancy rat (section)

=== Markings ===
[[File:Rat siamese.JPG|thumb|<!-- Do not change to Siamese, the picture is misnamed -->Himalayan rats have a unique color and marking variation]]

Further dividing the varieties of fancy rats are the many different markings. Fancy rats can appear in any combination of colors and markings. The markings are typically in reference to the patterns and ratios of colored hair versus white hair. Two extremes would be a ''self'' (completely solid, non-white color) and a Himalayan (completely white except blending into colored areas at the nose and feet, called [[Point coloration|point]]s, as in a [[Himalayan cat]]'s markings).<ref name="rsa-standards">{{cite web|url=http://ratsocietyofamerica.org/standards2.html|title=Standards|publisher=Rat Society of America|access-date=3 February 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090126204510/http://ratsocietyofamerica.org/standards2.html|archive-date=26 January 2009}}</ref>

Markings have a strict standard, with detailed terminology, for showing in fancy rat [[pet show]]s. However, many domestic rats are not closely bred to any color standard; many of those found in pet shops will have ''mismarkings'' from a formal breeding perspective, which are defined as variations in markings that are not recognized as conforming to a [[breed standard]] published by a rat fancier organisation.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

Commonly recognized standards include:
* Berkshire – colored top, white belly
* Hooded – color runs in a ''saddle'', a single, unbroken line from the full head down to the spine and possibly partly down the tail<ref name=nfrs-std />
* Capped – color on the full head only
* Blazed – colored head (capped) or body (Irish, Berkshire or self) with a triangular wedge of white fur over the face.
* Variegated – any form of mismatched oddities in the fur. Can be anything from a broken or spotted hood to a misshaped blaze.
* Irish or English Irish – In England, the Irish is standardized by the NFRS as an [[equilateral triangle]] of white with a side that begins at the chest, or between the front legs, and where the point ends mid-length.<ref name=nfrs-std /> In the United States and elsewhere, clubs like the AFRMA distinguish this marking as the English Irish and allow for another standardized Irish in which the rat may have white of an even or symmetrical nature anywhere along its underside.<ref name=afrma-std /><ref name="fox">{{cite book|last=Fox|first=Susan|title=The Guide to Owning a Rat|publisher=TFH Publications|date=August 1997|page=[https://archive.org/details/guidetoowningrat00susa/page/12 12]|isbn=978-0-7938-2157-0|url=https://archive.org/details/guidetoowningrat00susa/page/12}}</ref>

Other marking varieties include spotted or Dalmatian (named for the spotted [[Dalmatian (dog)|Dalmatian]] dog), Essex, masked, Himalayan (typically a [[gradient]] of color along the body, darkest at the base of the tail and nose as in [[Siamese cat]]s), and [[Down Under rat|Down Under]] or Downunder (an Australian variety that has a solid color stripe on the belly or a color marking there that corresponds to the markings on the top).<ref name="rmfe">{{cite journal|last=Hemberg|first=Yvette|author2=Cindy Sautchuk|year=2000|title=A New Rat Variety Down Under|journal=Rat and Mouse Fancy Report|volume=1|issue=1|url=http://rodentfancy.com/pets/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/downundr.pdf}}</ref> {{Clear}}[[File:Fancy Rat Dalmatian.jpg|thumb|Dalmatian Fancy Rat]]