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Albino & Leucistic Animals (Pigmentation Deficiency)

Albino Ladybird?

Sitting outside my front door for most of today has been what looks like an albino ladybird. I know that when they're newly hatched from their pupae they are very pale coloured, but they brighten up after a couple of hours. This is not like that, there appears to be no pigmentation in the wing cases, in fact they appear semi transparent (the dark marks don't look like they're on it, but showing through from under it) . I can't find anything similar on the web, so I'm handing it over to you lot. Anybody seen one like it before?
 
Don't know if anyone mentioned this yet:

Back a few years ago, in Minnesota, there was a video on one of the Minneapolis channels of a white deer that had wondered into someones back yard. The vidoe lasted about 15 seconds, and it sure as hell was a white deer. It looked kind of creepy.
 
My white cockatiel is white because she carries two separate mutations, one (lutino) strips the grey from the plumage, while the other(whiteface) removes the orange and yellow. As far as I know, there are no true albinos in this species.
 
Re: Stripeless zebra

Leaferne said:
I have a somewhat peculiar hobby, if you could call it that: equine colour genetics. FWIW there is no albinism in horses. (dunno about zebras though)

I recall reading that in horses, albinism is lethal, and albino foals are still-born. There is also, IIRC, a link between lack of melanin and deafness in horses and dogs. Something about the mechanism that triggers melanin production in the embryo also triggering inner ear development. Don't have enough experience with horses to form an opinion, but I do know that white, blue-eyed bulldogs tend to be deaf.
 
Tygerberg Zoo near Cape Town, South Africa, has a herd of white springbok, as well as a herd of black springbok (a charcoal colour) and the regular variety as well.

White peafowl are not uncommon and it has also been known to occur in ostriches.
 
Re: Re: Stripeless zebra

hedgewizard said:
I recall reading that in horses, albinism is lethal, and albino foals are still-born.

Not quite the same thing (again, there is no true albinism in horses). What you're describing is Overo Lethal White Syndrome. Overo is one of the genes which causes body (pinto) spotting.

A disorder in which the large intestine (caecum, colon and sometimes the rectum) undergoes a large dilation and fills with faecal mass. Associated with incomplete migration of nerve cells to the intestine during embryonic development.

In horses, the Overo coat-colour pattern is characterised by pigment spreading down both sides from the dorsal midline, giving way to white colour primarily on the side of horses. Unfortunately, homozygosity for the Overo allele results in completely white or nearly white foals which die within a few days of birth: the so-called lethal white foal sysndrome (OLWS). The cause of death is intestinal obstruction resulting from a lack of nerve cells in the distal portion of the large intestine (aganglionic megacolon), which is thought to be due to a fault in the proliferation and/or migration of nerve stem cells from the neural crest of the developing embryo.

Interestingly, two American studies found that some non-overo horses are carriers, suggesting that the mutation has incomplete penetrance.

The Overo coat colour is dominant to normal solid colour, but lethal white foal syndrome (OLWS) is recessive (i.e. the only horses to show this disorder are homozygotes for the Overo allele).

source

The true roan gene is also lethal (in utero) in its homozygous form, but I don't remember why. :) I'll look that up if anyone cares.

I've not heard much about the link between deafness and lack of melanin in horses, but then there are a few different genes which can make a white/light-coloured horse: overo, sabino, double creme dilution, tobiano, and possibly splash overo. I don't know which gene would affect hearing. WRT colour and other health issues, there's a suspected link between the homozygous form of silver dapple and eye problems but it hasn't been conclusively proven.
 
Thank you, Leaferne. Obviously I was reading the dumbed-down version.

BTW, there's a farm in northern Illinois, near the town of Hebron, that collects albino and white animals. Apparently, they rent them out for advertising to pay their expenses.
 
There's a lethal gene in hamsters called "eyeless white", which is just as horrid as it sounds.
 
Rock Hall watermen find rare albino crab

* Shell completely white, eyes normal color




By: CHARLIE CAMPBELL, Special from The Kent News
July 22, 2004



This albino crab was caught in the upper Chesapeake Bay by Capt. Brian Nesspor of Rock Hall on July 20. ROCK HALL - Some go an entire lifetime and never see one. A marine biologist in Oxford with 18 years on the job has never seen a completely white one. But Capt. Brian Nesspor of Rock Hall and R......

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http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=12435518&BRD=2101&PAG=461&dept_id=528511&rfi=6&xb=xaqis
 
Poachers kill, leave twin albino bucks

By Dean Bortz
Editor

Praag, Wis. — Buffalo County landowners first heard the shots, then got up and saw the spotlights. Shiners, for sure, most likely shooting at deer. Bad enough, but then Ron Schultz discovered that two twin albino bucks lay dead in his front yard.

Schultz contacted his neighbors. They’d found an adult doe and spotted fawn, also shot dead and left to rot.

“A lot of the locals knew about the twin albinos,” Schultz said. “A lot of locals would drive by in the evening to see them. Last night a guy stopped and got pictures of them.”

Schultz has been watching the twin albino buck fawns since they were born near his home in the spring of 2003. This year they were growing their first racks, but the racks weren’t trophy size by any means. Taking into account the doe and fawn that also were shot nearby, Schultz figures the violators were just driving around and shooting at any deer.

“It looks like random thrill killing. At first I thought maybe they were looking for bucks, but obviously they shot anything they saw,” he said.

Schultz heard the shots near his house at 2:20 a.m. on Thursday, July 22. He got out of bed, then saw a spotlight shining toward his yard. He turned on the yard light, then a car drove off. His neighbors told him that shots were fired near their homes around 2 a.m. and 2:10 a.m.

These local residents live along Hwy. 88, a mile or two north of Praag.

Schultz then found the two bucks, one about 50 yards from his house, the other about 75 yards off. From the position of the car and the dead buck, the shooter would have fired at the buck in a line that could have hit Schultz’s propane tank that was behind one of the bucks.

“Safety is always a major issue with shining at night with a spotlight — it’s an underlying factor of why we’re trying to eliminate this kind of activity,” said DNR conservation warden Bob Jumbeck, who is investigating the case. “You can’t see what’s behind the deer. It’s a major concern with road hunting and shining. We’re just very fortunate that nobody was hurt, other than the wildlife.”

Albino deer are protected and may not be hunted, even during normal hunting seasons. Schultz said the twin bucks were true albinos — they had pink eyes and noses, white hooves, and white antlers.

“They were in my yard last night,” he said.

“We have a lot of the details that we will hold for right now because it is an ongoing investigation, but if anyone has any information, we’d love to hear from those people,” Jumbeck said. “We’re looking for any information that would lead us to the culprits of this senseless act. It’s so uncommon to have albinos anywhere in the state … so many people knew about those two deer. Maybe it will help someone decide to give us a lead that we can follow up. Those two bucks were kind of unique to that valley.
“It’s just an unfortunate situation. It’s too bad there are individuals out there who don’t think about the big picture,” he said.

Schultz and his neighbors are making a reward available. In addition, they have received calls from other folks wishing to donate to the reward fund. Schultz said he and the neighbors were working with a local bank to establish a fund to accept donations for a reward, however those details were not worked out as of press time.

--------------
To report any information regarding this case, call Jumbeck at (608) 248-3678, the Buffalo County Sheriff’s Department at (608) 685-4433, or the DNR hotline at (800) TIP WDNR (847-9367)

http://www.wisconsinoutdoornews.com/WISCONSINOUTDOORNEWS/myarticles.asp?P=983169&S=565&PubID=12832
 
Published online: 30 July 2004; | doi:10.1038/news040726-15

White elephant spotted in Sri Lanka

Helen Pilcher

Albino pachyderm may boost conservation efforts.


A rare albino elephant has been spotted roaming Sri Lanka's Ruhunu National Park, the first recorded sighting in the country.

The pale-skinned pachyderm, thought to be around 11 years old, lives with a 17-strong herd of adult females and youngsters. Tracking the herd's movements could help researchers devise new strategies for the protection and management of Sri Lanka's elephants.

"This is a rare and excellent opportunity for research," says Dayananda Kariyawasam, director-general of the Department of Wildlife Conservation in Sri Lanka, which is now monitoring the animal's progress.

The elephant, named Sue after the Sinhalese word for 'white', has been seen several times in the past few weeks. "She's just hanging around," says veterinary surgeon Vijitha Berera from the Centre for Conservation and Research in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where the sightings were made. "We hope that she might be pregnant," he adds.

There were rumours of sightings of an albino elephant in the same area about seven years ago, although its existence was never confirmed. Berera believes this to be the same animal.

Dung test

Albinism is extremely rare in the wild. The condition arises when the body fails to produce melanin, the pigment that gives hair, skin and eyes their colour. A variety of genetic mutations lead to the condition, which crops up occasionally in birds, reptiles and mammals.

Researchers are hoping to test dung from the albino elephant to determine which mutation she has.

In most cases, the genes for albinism are recessive, meaning that an animal must inherit two copies of the gene (one from each parent) to become albino. So unless the Sri Lankan white elephant finds a male with a similar gene, she is unlikely to give birth to an albino offspring.

But this is becoming more likely, says Mary Pearl, President of the Wildlife Trust. As elephant numbers shrink and inbreeding becomes more common, genetic anomalies are more likely to arise. "So we may see more white elephants in the future."

Although Sue appears healthy, lack of pigment can make some animals susceptible to eye and skin problems. Snowflake, an albino gorilla that lived in Barcelona Zoo in Spain for 37 years, suffered from skin cancer and was put to sleep last year.

Enchanted creature

In Sri Lanka, deforestation is eating away at the elephants' natural habitat. Most of the country's 4,000 elephants now dwell within protected areas, but they sometimes wander into cultivated areas in search of food.

When this happens, they are often shot, says Berera. About three elephants die per week in this way.

But Berera hopes that the recent discovery will remain safe. "Most people believe that white elephants bring good luck, so she should be left alone," he says.

[edit: With picture too!]

http://www.nature.com/news/2004/040726/full/040726-15.html
 
White tiger with no stripes

Have we done this?
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=570&e=20&u=/nm/spain_tiger_dc
Blue-Eyed, Stripeless White Tiger Is Born

Mon Aug 9,11:20 AM ET
MADRID (Reuters) - A blue-eyed, stripeless white Bengal tiger, one of about 20 in the world, has been born in Spain, a wildlife refuge said on Monday.

The three-month-old cub has been named Artico, Spanish for Arctic.

"His parents are normal Bengal tigers, orange with black stripes, but because of a genetic mutation he is completely white with no stripes," said Serafin Domenech, director of El Arca (The Ark) refuge in the southeastern province of Alicante.

Artico's carers delayed announcing his birth until now because he was so weak when he was born they were not sure he would survive. The cub still has trouble digesting food and requires special care.

Domenech said such tigers are sometimes born in the wild but it is almost impossible for them to survive for long as their strange coloring causes them to be rejected or even attacked by other tigers.

El Arca will look for a permanent home for Artico once he is strong enough.

"Everybody wants a white tiger. It's not going to be hard for him to find a nice place to live," Domenech said.
 
Re: White tiger with no stripes

Keyser Soze said:
Have we done this?

Not that I'm aware of but we have discussed a similar issue with the white zebra - does it actually have stripes that are the same colour as the bacground or does it not have stripes at all?

Some other reports similar to the above:

Rare White Tiger Born In Spain

Stripeless Tiger 1 Of Only 20
A rare tiger makes his camera debut in Spain.


This blue-eyed and stripeless white Bengal tiger is one of only about 20 in the world.

The 3-month-old cub is named Artico, which means "arctic" in Spanish.

The rest of his family is normal -- they are orange Bengal tigers with black stripes.

Artico's current owner kept him out of the public's eye because he has been in frail health.

The cub still has trouble digesting food and requires special care.

There is hope that the albino cub will become completely healthy before finding a permanent home.

http://www.nbc17.com/news/3638793/detail.html

White tiger cub born without stripes

Posted Wed, 11 Aug 2004

A white tiger with blue eyes and no stripes, one of only 20 worldwide, was born in captivity at a wild animal refuge in southern Spain, the refuge director, Serafin Domenech, told AFP in an interview Wednesday.

Baptized "Artic", the young tiger's snow-like fleece and lack of stripes result from a genetic anomaly. Likewise a fragile stomach, which accounts for a steady diet of bifidus acidophilus yogurt — half a kilo per day — "to reinforce Artic's intestinal flora", explained Domenech by telephone.

The Noah's Arc Refuge, near Alicante, waited three critical months before announcing Artic's birth due to his less than robust health. At a mere nine kilograms, "he is small for his age", Domenech said. "His sister Siberia, born from the same litter, is already much heavier."

If Artic follows a strict diet there is no reason he should not live as long as a normal Bengal tiger, about 20 years.

In the wild, however, Artic would probably not last very long. Even if he managed to adapt his diet, his white coloration would make him an easy mark for predators, including man.

Even in captivity, his social life will be complicated by his condition. "I don't plan to put him together with normal tigers," said Domenech, "because they might kill him due to the fact he is different."

Still, Artic will not be condemned to solitude. "We have to put him together with another animal a bit like him, but weaker, so that Artic will not be harmed when they play together," said the director.

Indeed, a candidate is already in view. Another tiger, Bienvenida, was recently operated due to a spina bifida and moves only with difficulty. She may be the ideal playmate.

http://iafrica.com/news/worldnews/340604.htm
 
Snowdrop the albino penguin dies suddenly

Zoo's rare albino penguin is dead


A extremely rare albino African penguin chick, which hatched at Bristol zoo in November 2002, has died.

Snowdrop showed no sign of illness, but died mysteriously on Sunday, staff at the zoo said.

It is believed the bird, first shown to the public as a six-week-old chick in December 2002, was the first albino penguin to be hatched at a zoo.

Curator Duncan Bolton said there have only been two recorded sightings of albino penguins in the wild.

Bristol Zoo spokeswoman Heather Hove said Snowdrop's death had come as a shock.

Post-mortem

"Until Sunday afternoon, Snowdrop's keepers had noticed no outward signs of sickness," she said.

"Snowdrop had been experiencing the usual summer moult, during which time it is normal for penguins to be subdued and stop feeding for a short period."

A vet was informed that the bird was in distress at noon on Sunday, but within 10 minutes Snowdrop had died.

A post-mortem examination was due to be held..

In the wild, African penguins live in a small area around the coasts of South Africa.

Story from BBC NEWS:
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/3579986.stm
 
Are you pleased to see me or is that a two-headed albino rat

Stolen Two-Headed Snake Returns Home



By Associated Press

August 24, 2004, 4:38 PM EDT


ST. LOUIS -- There's a definite down side to swiping a two-headed albino rat snake: There's no good way to disguise the stolen goods. St. Louis police returned a rare reptile to its museum home Monday, the same day it went missing, after a tipster called in a sighting.

Employees of the City Museum realized the snake was gone from its World Aquarium exhibit in the morning, and it soon became clear someone had broken in.

They called police, who were quickly on the case.

"One of the detectives introduced himself as Ace Ventura, Pet Detective," said Elizabeth Parker, director of the City Museum.

But shortly after St. Louis police went to the museum, a woman called the nearby Belleville, Ill., police, to say she'd seen some teens with a two-headed snake.

Police arrested two suspects without incident.

They said both worked at the City Museum for about a week, but were fired earlier this month. Brandon Smith, 18, of Belleville, Ill., was charged with stealing and second-degree burglary, police said. Details about the other suspect, a juvenile, were not released.

The City Museum, an attraction in downtown St. Louis, is in a former shoe factory and features playground-like rooms and offbeat educational activities.

World Aquarium Director Leonard Sonnenschein traveled with a glass case in a police cruiser to pick up the two-headed snake, which was in an Illinois garage.

He was thrilled to have the snake back.

"This is one of the stars of the institution," Sonnenschein said. "This is just an amazing animal."

But, he said, it would have been hard not to draw attention with the reptile outside of the museum setting. Museum officials said the snake will be displayed again, once they better secure its exhibit.

--------------
On the Net:

City Museum: http://www.citymuseum.org/

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationw...43211.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines
 
Deafness in white animals is associated with dominant white not albinism, albino animals are no more likely to be deaf than coloured ones as they are actually genetically a colour 'under' the white, an albino can be genetically chocolate, say, or even black and white! Siamese cats are partial albinos , a friend studying them in Thailand was shown a true albino cat with pink eyes, she said it looked sickly.
 
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One of my cats is a "chinchilla albino" (I got that from the internet somewhere :confused: ) I'm wondering if that's what makes her such a sickly creature? She has dodgy digestion, she's smaller than her sister, and recently had sore lips (a sort of red Alice Cooper effect) Are they generally of delicate health?
 
Beak, a lot of mutations are sickly. I suspect this is because there are other genetic anomalies that get reinforced along with the desired one.

Sits backs, what's for the FTMB geneticists to make corrections.
 
Rilly dumb question: is that why our lilac-point Siamese-ish cat pukes so much?
 
Well she's bleeding from the bottom now, so I may find out more at the vets tonight.
 
Oh dear, beak--I hope she'll be OK. (And you, too!)
 
Sorry about your cat Beak. Dont forget that most pedigree animals come from a very small gene pool, so any inherent problems with the progenitors will usually get enhanced,also there is no new genes permitted into the breed as the characteristics of the breed would be "weakened".
 
The vet maintains that albinos are no more "sickly" than a normal animal. (She also maintained that mine isn't an albino, but being a Fortean of enquiring mind, I know better than her)
 
'White' crow spotted in Kerala

November 05, 2004 17:19 IST

It's a crow, and it is white.

Yes, a pristine white crow with pink beak and bluish eyes has been spotted and caged in Alappuzha district of Kerala.

The milky white bird, which biologists call an albino for its lack of normal colour, draws an enthusiastic crowd, including children.

It was found in a nest atop a coconut tree at Thayankari in Kuttanad area. It was first sighted by a coconut plucker. He put it in a cage for the people to see, villagers said.
"Spotting an albino crow is rare indeed," said Prof N Ramakrishnan, former head of department of Biology at the S D College in Alappuzha. "This could happen due to genetic reasons or due to hormone deficiency while growing up," Ramakrishnan said about the rare phenomenon.

http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/nov/05kera.htm

See also this SI article:

Contemporary challenges to William James's white crow: William James's belief that he had found his white crow, thereby proving the legitimacy of spiritualism as a suitable subject for a science of psychology, evoked strong reaction from psychologists—and from his dying sister
Skeptical Inquirer, Jan-Feb, 2004 by Herman H. Spitz
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_1_28/ai_111897969
 
Curator Duncan Bolton said there have only been two recorded sightings of albino penguins in the wild.

I would query this; The Adiele is well known for abnormal marking, including albinos.

Perhaps he means just African penguins??
 
On July 15th, three female fraternal triplet tiger cubs, with golden, white, and brown fur colors were born in Schloss Holte-Stukenbrock, Western Germany. Their parents - brown Bengal tigers Rani and Ratscha - both carry recessive white genes. On September 6th, a photo was released by the Hollywood and Safaripark where all five tigers reside.

http://www.ruggedelegantliving.com/a/002999.html

The white one isn't an albino exactly, but still interesting that the three tiger cubs are each of a different colour.
 
White elephant spotted in Sri Lanka

another report:

In search of the albino elephant
By Tom Parker in Colombo

[...]

The 11-year old female - nicknamed Sue - was recently spotted for the first time in 6 years. It is thought to be the only wild albino elephant in Asia.

"Generally when you see an albino animal you expect it to be white, that is if it has fur.

"Since elephants hardly have any fur you see the skin colour. It's like a very pale tanned colour. So, especially if it is wet, the contrast is absolutely amazing", says Dr Fernando.

Conflict

The dry season is making life difficult for the local farmers, as the animals cross the park boundary and venture into the village areas looking for food and water.

It's obviously a very rare mutation or a very rare gene
Dr Priviraj Fernando

"Most elephants come into conflict with people and because of that most of them develop avoidance behaviour," says Dr Fernando.

"They become almost nocturnal."

This makes observation and research into Yala's elephant population almost impossible.

The crimson sun is setting as we drive to Rotawella tank, a water supply one kilometre into the park where local people come to wash. HK Janaka, one of the park's researchers, saw the albino elephant here last month.

"I stopped my bike and climbed a tree. I saw one elephant coming towards the tank to drink water. Suddenly I saw the white elephant. It was with 19 elephants, all female."

Genetic question

Dr Fernando wants to find out the cause of the elephant's albinism.

"It's obviously a very rare mutation or a very rare gene. Usually genes like albinism are recessive, so even if an animal or a person carries one of those genes it will not be expressed so you wouldn't know unless you did a genetic analysis."

The white elephant has a great significance to Buddhism
Nanasiri
Farmer

In the rare instance an animal receives two recessive albino genes - one from each parent - it will be an albino.

On the other hand it could be a case of a genetic mutation resulting in a characteristic like albinism always being expressed. If the elephant becomes pregnant its offspring will also be albino.

"Mutations happen because they just happen. That's why you have evolution", says Dr Fernando.

Buddhism

The reappearance of the animal has not just been of interest to scientists.

Albino elephants have played a part in Buddhist mythology.

I went to see Nanasiri, a local farmer who lives in Tissamaharama, a bustling tourist town on the edge of the park.

"The white elephant has a great significance to Buddhism," he says.

"The white elephant is the God Saman's vehicle which he used when he came to Sri Lanka in the Ratnapura area. The Lord Buddha's mother also dreamt of a white elephant before his conception."

"We believe the white elephant only appears once every 12 years and it's seen as an auspicious sign," he says.

[...]

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/south_asia/3991861.stm
Published: 2004/11/08 13:48:04 GMT

© BBC MMIV
 
Saw a black rabbit yesterday up in the Dales, it allowed us to get close and because it was running around a layby at the side if a lane I thought maybe it was a dumped pet and tried to talk to it and get closer. Then it jumped a high stone wall like a cat and disappeared into the field, not very tame looking any more! There were other normal wild rabbits around too, it was pretty similar to them in size but was a true black (not melanistic) I remember seeing a black rabbit on Ilkley Moor earlier in the year. I've never seen one in any other part of the country, its not the sort of mutation you would normally find in wild animals (though common in domestic ones) so maybe they are descended from escapes or dumped pets.
 
Theres a campsite (I can recomend it as a quiet site) between Ilfracombe and Coombe Martin, called Little Meadows, the rabbit population there has about 25 % black rabbits,all wild,often watched them when down there on hols this year.Also saw a pod of dolphins,3 adults and a young one swimming just off shore, loverly place.
 
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