Forget roles—I'm sorting dogs by their genetic quirks instead. Today’s lineup? The snub-nosed squad, here to breathe heavily and steal your snacks.
The Cephalic Index is the ratio of the maximum breadth of a skull to its maximum length. If that ratio is over 80%, congrats! That’s a brachycephalic skull, affectionately known as the smoosh-face special.
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It’s easy to assume that skull shape is controlled by a single “short muzzle” gene, but nope—turns out, face flattening is a team effort.
A couple of major players?
A missense mutation is a little DNA oopsie that swaps out an amino acid in a protein. Sometimes, that’s harmless. Other times, it rewrites the entire blueprint for skull shape.
The short muzzle look isn’t just a genetic accident—it’s a style choice. Breeders intentionally select for these traits, meaning every Pug, Bulldog, and Frenchie is rocking a human-engineered face remodel.
Whether that’s adorable or concerning depends on who you ask.
1. Short muzzles aren’t a happy accident—they’re genetically selected for.
2. Multiple genes are involved in canine face-flattening. BMP3 just gets a ton of credit (or blame).
3. Brachycephalic skulls = breed standard, not functional necessity.
The phrase “brachycephalic” skull is named based on its resemblance to the condition in humans. Brachycephaly is seen in several conditions, including Apert’s and Crouzon’s syndromes.
If your curiosity leads you to Google, be warned. You won't be able to unsee it.
The Form Factor deck digs into the structural mutations that give us dogs with larger muscle mass, shorter muzzles, or that adorably stocky build we call dwarfism.
Here’s the plan:
1. Share updates here so you can see how the project unfolds.
2. Introduce you to the breeds and mutations that made the cut.
3. Shamelessly ask for your input on additional breeds to include (yes, I want your opinion, dog nerds).
4. Finally, if enough of you are interested, post the project on Kickstarter.
Thanks for joining me on this wildly specific creative journey. If you’re as nerdy about dogs as I think you are, please sign up for deck-specific updates below!
Because, even as an academic escapee, my inner science geek lives on.
