There is something else bugging me about hypomelanism...like how it's defined.
To me hypomelanism isn't necessarily only the reduction of darker Eumelanins, but can include the lighter Pheomelanins as well. We have several different examples of hypomelanism that are very different from one another(San felipes, Long canyons, etc) Some show an obvious reduction in darker colors, leaving more orange animals, while others the a reduction in both. The same can be said to be true for other snakes as well, like balls or corns.
I think of hypomelanism in different terms than it usually gets used. I consider it a 'general' reduction in pigmentation! It's a sliding scale though; hypos from different locales will display different phenotypes.
From the below pic, it's obvious that since both light and dark melanins come from the same starting material, that both can be effected by an adverse event at the beginning of the melanin pathway.




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Thanks,
-JC
Rosyboas.to

1.1 San felipe (CB'93)
0.1 hypo San felipe (CB'98)
1.0 hypo San felipe (CB'03)
0.1 het hypo San felipe (CB'04)
1.1 hypo-line San felipe (CB'98)
1.1 hypo Borrego (CB'99)
0.1 hypo Borrego (CB'05)
1.1 albino Whitewater (CB'02)
1.1 double het snow rosy (CB'95)
0.1 anery rosy (CB'05)
1.0 snow rosy (CB'04)
1.1 Joshua Tree (CB'96)
1.0 Bagdad (CB'99)
1.1 Harquahala Mts. (CB'04)
1.1 Limburg albino (CB'02)
0.1 Limburg albino (CB'05)
1.1 Limburg anery (CB'05)
0.1 Boa constrictor (CB'92)

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