21/05/2022
Did you know............. ????
Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal, plant, or person, resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino.
What causes albinism?
Albinism is an inherited disorder that’s present at birth. Children have a chance of being born with albinism if both of their parents have albinism or both of their parents carry the gene for albinism.
The cause of albinism is a defect in one of several genes that produce or distribute melanin, the pigment that gives skin, eyes, and hair their coloring. The defect may result in the absence of melanin production or a reduced amount of melanin production.
For most types of albinism, both parents must carry the gene in order for their child to develop the condition. Most people with albinism have parents who are only carriers of the gene and don’t have symptoms of the condition.
Other types of albinism, including one that only affects the eyes, mostly occur when a birthing parent passes the gene for albinism on to a child assigned male at birth.
Wildlife identification guides are useful tools that help you figure out what kind of animal you may be looking at. However, they don’t always tell the complete story. Some animals such as garter snakes can have varied appearances which makes identification difficult. Some mammals have varied pelage such as striped skunks with some being almost completely black, white or some combination in between. A very small percentage of animals within a species may look dramatically different due to differences in pigment.
Albinos lack the ability to produce color pigment in their skin, hair, feathers, scales or eyes. Animals with this condition have a white appearance with red or pink eyes. The latter is the result of tiny blood vessels that are now visible. They are typically hidden by the colored iris which is transparent in albinos.
In wildlife, albinism is a rare occurr