Posted by:
dustyrhoads
at Thu Oct 16 13:39:31 2008 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by dustyrhoads ]
Interesting question...
We do know one thing...they're definitely not a Tyrosinase-negative albino, as they would have bright red eyes and none of that light caramel brown color would show up in the neck region.
However, they're very reminiscent of the "caramel albinos" (also called Tyrosinase-positive albinos) that you see in a few boid species. That has led some people to call them T-positive albinos, and yet, that obvious reduction of melanin has led some others to simply refer to them as hypos.
It would be good to compare their traits with hypos of other closely related species, such as the several loci for hypomelanism in Corns and hypo Everglades Rats.
In good lighting, my T-pos. Baird's have dark red eyes. "Red eyes", as a trait, usually lends itself to albinism more than just hypomelanism, but that's somewhat of a broad generalization, as there are probably examples of hypos (like in Corns and Glades rats) that also have red eyes. (Any other thoughts here from any keepers of Corns and Glades?)
It would be good to ask some of the boa and ball python people what the difference is, on a molecular-level, between hypo boas and caramel albino boas, for example. On a gene function (or lack-of-function) level, there may actually not be too much difference, but I don't know. The two traits are obviously genetically distinct, but it may be that, at a phenotypic and structural level, there's just a difference in the timing of the molecular pathway that leads to a different locus for the same phenotypic mutation. It just seems that, to me, hypo and caramel, are different terms for different-looking but roughly the same type of mutation (i.e. a partial -- but not complete -- loss of melanin production).
I'd like to hear what others think on this question too.
DR
Suboc.com
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RE: What's the deal....Hypo or Albino??? - dustyrhoads, Thu Oct 16 13:39:31 2008
