MORE ON ALBINOIZM
OK folks, this is a thread I found on the morph area of this forum. I makes sense to me.. I kept thread in whole, just to help with whatever...
Hope it helps....
Harpy
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Albino Question?
MidnightIris
Ok....
Umm, Let me tell you what I've heard, and then have people yell at me for begin wrong, lol.
Human, all mammal coloration actually, relies on only one factor that determines the amount of dark pigment that we have. Hence, if the person is devoid of all dark pigment, they have no color at all.
But Corn Snakes have three (or four) color-producing agents, one for black (similar to that found in mammals), one for red, and one for yellow (and one for irridescence that we don't totally understand). Hence, when all dark coloration is taken away in the same sense that it is in an "albino", there are still pigments being produced. Hence, the "albino" corn snake still having color. But it lacks all black, just like a mammal albino.
As for Anerys, or Black Abinos, the red and most yellow pigments are lacking in the same sense that black pigment lacks in an albino. So the paradox term of "black albino" does kind of apply.
As for snows and blizzards, they're not only lacking the black color producing agent, but also the agent to produce red and most yellow coloration. So, in a sense, while they take on the appearence of a mammalian albino, there are more factors at work then your typical albino.
And one more thing, names like "albino" and "black albino" are more marketing names to appeal to the public. I mean, doesn't "black albino" sound better then "anerythristic type 'a'"?
And more people know what an "albino" is then what an "amelanistic" is. So technically, a "snow" would be an "amelanistic type 'a' anerythristic". But that seems a bit long to me, lol.
Does this help? Or even make sense?
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MissHisssss
New Member
Thank you Midnight Iris
I'm no authority on this.... I only read what is written about things (in this case albino's and albinoism) and then use common sense..... and, it only makes sense that it wouldn't make any difference if it's human/animal or snake (all of which work with blacks, reds, yellows, etc).... albino still means the ABSENSE of ALL color. This is why albino human/animals have white hair. White is not a color, it is the absense of color. The very pale pink skin is only caused by the blood running through the veins and I see how that is so because when I blush my skin turns more pink. Bottom line... if something has any color at all, it can not be classified as an albino... and diluting a color or eliminating a color is a totally different thing than being an albino.
I agree that black albino and red albino sounds prettier than Anery this and Amel that.... but it falsely leads people down the wrong path. And I don't mean for those that know what albinoism really means... I'm talking about people who don't know and think they are buying a 'special color'.... or the kids that one thread person said was going to show her amel and anery snakes to to show them the difference between black and red albinos. Breeding, selling, and teaching people about these anery and amel snakes should be done on fact.... not just because one thinks one name is less difficult to say or to remember than another or one sounds prettier than the other.
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Darin Chappell
Very Senior Hillbilly
Webster's defines an albino as "an organism exhibiting deficient pigmentation." While that is usually applied to an animal that is white (due to a lack of melanin), it is not the case in reptiles. Reptiles can be other colors, but, because they are deficient in one or more pigments found in their normal coloration, they are technically "albinos" in the truest sense of the word.
However, not all mamalian albinos are completely white. There are mamals (and people) that are tyrosinase positive or tyrosinase negative, which may or may not show some coloration. The reason for this is because the depression of pigment production is incomplete in some way.
