Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was just looking at some adds for "Hypo" milks & it reminded my that this is an incorrect term to use, as Hypo means less. The correct term should be Hyper which means more. Like Hyper-tension means more tension. Hypo-thermia low/less body temperature. I know it may not stick as the term hypo has been used for so long but just a thaught.

np

What about the species that naturally don't have that much melanin (produces black pigmentation) but still labled hypo.

>>I was just looking at some adds for "Hypo" milks & it reminded my that this is an incorrect term to use, as Hypo means less. The correct term should be Hyper which means more. Like Hyper-tension means more tension. Hypo-thermia low/less body temperature. I know it may not stick as the term hypo has been used for so long but just a thaught.

your confusion could be due to using the abbreviated "hypo" instead of the full term in most common use today, "hypomelanistic". THEN it's pretty obvious it means reduced melanin, and looking at a hypo corn or a hypo honduran or a hypo bullsnake, it's pretty obvious that the term is accurately describing the change in the snake.

to be honest, i can't think of a "hyper" morph offhand. black versions of hognoses & some other colubrids are called, simply, melanistic, though it could be argued that hypermelanstic could be correct in those cases.

can you give an example of the type of snake you're thinking of in your follow-up post, when you talk about some that you think would BE hyper instead of hypo? Also, remember that melanin produces both brown and black.

terry