Description:
Autosomal Cinnamon is visually similar to Sex-Linked Cinnamon, but is a simple recessive instead of sex-linked. It creates a light, orange/tan color on the bird, with black and brown markings, and dark ruby eyes that were visible when held to light (1)(2)(3), as early as 1940, which is likely the reference to autosomal Cinnamon. There are also studies done an on "Orange" and a "Buff" mutation (1)(2), all three of which are likely the same mutation just discovered by different laboratories. A similar red-eyed autosomal mutation is referenced in chickens, it is unknown if they are the same gene but they look and interact the same.
It is classified as a semi-lethal mutation, as in homozygous form it causes increased mortality. Both pre-hatch and post-hatch has a high rate of death, with one study reporting less than 40% of chicks surviving until adulthood. Birds that do survive are often sensitive to bright light (2).
Chicks will hatch a darker brown color and lighten up to an orangish color with age, with the reddish brown color being especially prominent on males, and very light undercolor and white shafting(1). The mutation likely decreases the overall amount of melanin in the bird, including in eye pigment (1).
The current line of Cinnamon in the United States is a stable line of Sex-Linked Cinnamon, and is completely separate from the Autosomal Cinnamon gene referenced here.
The gene shorthand is cin, and the order of dominance is Pharaoh > Cinnamon.
Breeding with Autosomal Cinnamon:
Cinnamon x Cinnamon = 100% Cinnamon (note: only about 40% will survive to adulthood)
(cin/cin x cin/cin = 100% cin/cin)
Cinnamon x Wildtype = 100% Cinnamon Carriers
(cin/cin x cin+ x cin+ = 100% cin/cin+)
Cinnamon x Cinnamon Carrier = 50% Cinnamon, 50% Cinnamon Carrier
(cin/cin x cin/cin+ = 50% cin/cin, 50% cin/cin+)
Cinnamon Carrier x Cinnamon Carrier = 25% Cinnamon, 50% Cinnamon Carrier, 25% Wildtype
(cin/cin+ x cin/cin+ = 25% cin/cin, 50% cin/cin+, 25% cin+/cin+)
Cinnamon Carrier x Wildtype = 50% Cinnamon Carrier, 50% Wildtype
(cin/cin+ x cin+/cin+ = 50% cin/cin+, 50% cin+/cin+)
References & Further Reading
S. Ito, M. Tsudzuki, Orange: A Plumage Color Mutation Accompanied by Semi-Lethality in Japanese Quail, Journal of Heredity, Volume 85, Issue 1, January 1994, Pages 54–56, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a111395
K. SITTMANN, W. O. WILSON, L. Z. MCFARLAND, Buff and Albino Japanese Quail: Description, Inheritance, and Fitness Traits, Journal of Heredity, Volume 57, Issue 4, July 1966, Pages 119–124, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a107487
Fulton, J. E., C. W. Roberts, and K. M. Cheng. "Cinnamon: a mutant of Japanese quail." Canadian Journal of Genetics and Cytology 24.2 (1982): 163-166.
WABBEN, D. C. Inheritance of pinkeye in the fowL Jour. Hered. 31:291-292. 1940.
Tsudzuki, Masaoki. "Mutations of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) and recent advances of molecular genetics for this species." The journal of poultry science 45.3 (2008): 159-179.
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