The dun gene is a dilution gene that affects both red and black pigments in the coat color of a horse. The dun gene lightens most of the body while leaving the mane, tail, legs, and primitive markings the shade of the undiluted base coat color. A dun horse always has a dark dorsal stripe down the middle of its back, usually has a darker face and legs, and may have transverse striping across the shoulders or horizontal striping on the back of the forelegs. Body color depends on the underlying coat color genetics. A classic "bay dun" is a gray-gold or tan, characterized by a body color ranging from sandy yellow to reddish brown. Duns with a chestnut base may appear a light tan shade, and those with black base coloration are a smoky gray. Manes, tails, primitive markings, and other dark areas are usually the shade of the undiluted base coat color. The dun gene may interact with all other coat color alleles. Taxonomic distribution Dun is believed to be the ancestral or wild type color of horses. Many equines appearing in prehistoric cave paintings such as in Chauvet Cave are dun, and several closely related species in the genus Equus show dun characteristics. These include the Przewalski's horse, onager, kiang, African wild ass, an extinct subspecies of plains zebra, the quagga, and an extinct subspecies of horse, the tarpan. Zebras can also be considered a variant of dun where the dilution is so extreme it turns the hair nearly white, and the primitive markings (like the striped leg barring) extend across the entire body. Neither the non-dun1 nor the non-dun2 mutations were found in any other equids. Color traits The dun gene has a dilution effect, lightening the body coat, but has less of an effect on the primitive markings and on the point coloration of the mane, tail, ears, and legs. Dun visibly affects all the three base colors, bay (bay, classic, or zebra dun), black (mouse dun or grullo), and Chestnut (red dun). It is more difficult to recognize when combined with other dilution genes or if affected by gray. Shades include: Dun, also called bay dun, classic dun, or zebra dun is the most common type of dun, and has a tan or gold body with black mane, tail, and primitive markings. Genetically, the horse has an underlying bay coat color, acted upon by