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Basenji

Basenji genetic profile from the CanVAS Atlas. 40 dogs in the Atlas, heterozygosity 0.24. Nearest relatives, trait loci frequencies, cohort distribution.

What the atlas says about Basenji

In the atlas, the Basenji clusters consistently as Basenji (100% of the 40 dogs here). At the trait loci, MSRB3 runs lower than average (10% here vs 80%); FGF4_retrogene_CFA18 runs lower than average (15% here vs 77%). Dogs here sit in a relatively sparse region of the atlas, fewer close neighbors than typical.

Ranks 13 of 107 on the bottleneck severity scale, well into the upper quartile of population contraction. High breed predictability score (3.02), individual dogs of this breed reliably cluster together genetically.

Closest genetic neighbors in the atlas: village dog Drc Boende, village dog Liberia Lofa, village dog Namibia Northern, village dog Egypt Luxor, and village dog Uganda. AKC classifies the breed in the hound group; the corrected top-10-PC distance places it nearer to the ancient landrace group. This is one of the atlas's strong-tier AKC mismatch findings.

Median lifespan is 15.55 years, about 3.0 years longer than a typical dog of 10.25 kg, an unusually positive longevity for this size.

Genetic dimensions · CanVAS atlas

What the genome says about Basenji

Computed from the 14,478 research dogs in the Atlas. Methods: technical methodology.

Dogs in the Atlas
40Founders
24 from Hayward2016, 10 from Spatola, 6 from Shannon
Genetic diversity
0.24Tight
Mean heterozygosity across the breed. Ranks 13th most genetically tight of 107 ranked breeds.
Cluster structure
Splits into two genetic sub-populations
Intra-breed RMS distance: 28.04 · likely working/show-line, regional, or kennel lineage split.
Nearest genetic relatives
  1. Village Dog Drc Boende27.23
  2. Village Dog Liberia Lofa36.72
  3. Village Dog Namibia Northern37.60
  4. Village Dog Egypt Luxor40.08
  5. Village Dog Uganda42.79
Top-10 PC corrected Euclidean. Lower = closer.
Trait genetics
Allele frequencies at named morphology loci

Frequency of the alternate allele in this breed at each locus's representative SNP. Methods + caveats in technical methodology.

Body size
IGF193%
HMGA295%
SMAD248%
LCORL49%
STC217%
ADAMTS1786%
Leg length
FGF4·CFA1815%
FGF4·CFA1294%
Coat
RSPO293%
FGF574%
KRT7188%
MC1R89%
Ear set
MSRB310%
Skull shape
BMP395%
SMOC290%
Add your Basenji to the Atlas

You can add your Basenji right now at /add/ as a Charted star. Or, if you'd rather wait for DNA uploads, leave your email and we'll let you know the moment those open.

Last updated
Sources: CanVAS (Brundage 2026) · CanVAS dimensions data