Bronwen

Bronwen, named for her white breast, is a curious-looking duck.
Her front part does not match the rest of her so she looks like a small white duck emerging from the chocolate-brown body of a larger one.
Could she be a genetic anomaly such as a chimaera like Venus the two-faced cat, or is she an example of mosaicism, as illustrated by this 1749 painting of a speckled girl?
She is obviously is the result of miscegenation between two different varieties of duck and has inherited features from both but by what mechanism I cannot say.

Her odd proportions give Bronwen the rolling gait of an old sea-salt who has imbibed more than his fair share of rum. She lags behind the two other ducks a little but generally speaking she gets around fine, swims well and can fly when the occasion demands. Currently she is enjoying the wet weather - it's lovely for ducks!



Genetic chimaera
Genetic mosaicism