The creation model provides a valuable framework for evaluating the role of genetic changes in animals and man. Recognizing the population bottleneck which occurred in land animals at the time of the Flood, it is clear that genetic variation was once more limited than it is today. Here, variation in the agouti signaling protein gene is evaluated. In general, activating mutations result from regulatory changes, while loss of function mutations can result from regulatory changes and/or amino acid substitutions. The effects can vary widely. Various activating mutations are associated with the valuable white phenotype in domestic sheep, the adaptive coloration that arose in Oldfield mice, and negative pleiotropic effects in yellow lab mice. It appears that a number of different mechanisms are involved in genetic rearrangements that have potentially useful effects. Further research should help uncover a better understanding of how and why these rearrangements occur as well as a more detailed understanding of their effects. The benefits of this knowledge could range from aiding in the development of livestock suited to unusual environmental conditions to avoiding or mitigating the effects of deleterious mutations.