I am reviewing color mutations with the Herpetology class I TA. We only cover the basics like Albinism (true Hypomelanism), Hypermelanism (often referred to as Melanistic), etc.

It got me thinking and looking at some of the basic morphs. One that caught my eye was the Orange Ghost, which when bred with an Albino creates a high contrast white and orange snake. I was under the impression that the "Ghost" term referred to a form of Hypomelanism in that the snake has less melanin than a "normal" does. I see this is many of the other Ghost forms. Orange ghost, however, look like a Xanthic snake, where there is an excess of xanthiphores creating yellow/orange pigment.

Input, anyone?
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Lincoln, NE
0.1 Pastel, 1.0 Pastel het Pied, 0.1 Pied, 0.1 Cinn, 1.0 Black Pewter, 1.1 Normals, 1.0 Thayeri, 0.1 Thayeri X Alterna, 0.1 crazy cat, 1.0 husband

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• Orange Ghost, Xanthic? - Bolitochrome, Mon Oct 5 18:37:11 2009
• I was under the same impression... - RyanT, Mon Oct 5 22:04:26 2009