Albinism.........True??

[IvoryReptiles]

Okay, I keep hearing folks talking about albinism and how what we are calling albino in our frogs is not True Albinism. So I went researching and found this much :

True Albinos (amelanistic albino) have NO trace of melanin on their body.

There are many other conditions, that are confused with albinism in animals. Some animals are pure white in color, but are not albinos. You can identify a true albino animal with its eye color. A true albino lack melanin totally and will have no markings on their body and their eyes will be pink or red. This eye color is not common in humans. In case of true albino animals, the blood vessels in the retina are seen through the eyes that lack melanin (that makes the eyes opaque). Their nails, skin and scales will also be pink or white in color. Partial albinos will have eyes that are blue or normal colors. There are some other conditions in animals, that are related to albinism. While axanthic albinos (axanthism) lack yellow color on their body, anerythristic albinos lack red color. Albinism is also mistaken with leucism, wherein the animal have a very pale or white color, but will have dark eyes. They do not lack melanin and can be identified with their eye color.

Quote source: Buzzle.com

I also found some useful info on this page : What Causes Albinism in Animals?
And this page as well: What Is an Albino Frog?
In conclusion, any frog that is yellow/pink/peach in it's coloring and possesses red/pink eyes is a True Albino.
The Phantom Frogs supplied by Samurai in Japan are actually a combination of :
Axanthic : lack of yellow pigmentation
Anytheristic : lack of red pigmentation

And then there is this:
Amelanistic: lack of black & brown pigmentation

Now, I have noticed that in our tadpoles & froglets, we have what we have been calling "Albino" because of the yellow/pink/peach coloring and lack of dark pigments are actually two types of frogs in the end........some have normal eye pigments while others have the red/pink eye coloring associated with albinism.

After a discussion with some Science Folks involved in Biology & Herpetology that are acquaintances of ours, we have come to the conclusion that the frogs with regular pigmented eyes are actually Amelanistic, while the frogs with the red/pink eyes are True Albinos.

I am now on a mission to get photographs of the differences so that I can in the future distinguish between the two and when selling them, will be accurate in labeling them correctly.

Just thought I would share this information with everyone..........discussion is welcome!

[GrifTheGreat]

Okay, I keep hearing folks talking about albinism and how what we are calling albino in our frogs is not True Albinism. So I went researching and found this much :


Quote source: Buzzle.com

I also found some useful info on this page : What Causes Albinism in Animals?
And this page as well: What Is an Albino Frog?
In conclusion, any frog that is yellow/pink/peach in it's coloring and possesses red/pink eyes is a True Albino.
The Phantom Frogs supplied by Samurai in Japan are actually a combination of :
Axanthic : lack of yellow pigmentation
Anytheristic : lack of red pigmentation

And then there is this:
Amelanistic: lack of black & brown pigmentation

Now, I have noticed that in our tadpoles & froglets, we have what we have been calling "Albino" because of the yellow/pink/peach coloring and lack of dark pigments are actually two types of frogs in the end........some have normal eye pigments while others have the red/pink eye coloring associated with albinism.

After a discussion with some Science Folks involved in Biology & Herpetology that are acquaintances of ours, we have come to the conclusion that the frogs with regular pigmented eyes are actually Amelanistic, while the frogs with the red/pink eyes are True Albinos.

I am now on a mission to get photographs of the differences so that I can in the future distinguish between the two and when selling them, will be accurate in labeling them correctly.

Just thought I would share this information with everyone..........discussion is welcome!

Very nice info. I believe I understand the differences in the these types. So Albino Pacs with the yellow/peach color are also Partial true albino. This is ver interesting.

[Heatheranne]

Excellent article/post. Very educational. Thanks!

[Kira Hudson]

thank you ivory good info

[motiszm]

After a discussion with some Science Folks involved in Biology & Herpetology that are acquaintances of ours, we have come to the conclusion that the frogs with regular pigmented eyes are actually Amelanistic, while the frogs with the red/pink eyes are True Albinos.

I am now on a mission to get photographs of the differences so that I can in the future distinguish between the two and when selling them, will be accurate in labeling them correctly.

Here's a quote from the mother of all information...wikipedia on amelanism: "The only pigments that mammals produce are melanins. For a mammal to be unable to chemically manufacture melanin renders it completely pigmentless. This condition is more commonly called albinism."

The term albinism originally was used to describe the condition of amelanism in mammals. The word amelanism means lack of melanin. Since mammals only have one skin pigment its removal results in an animal that is all white in appearance with red eyes. Red eyes because the red of the retina is visible through the iris.

Now here is wikipedia's definition of Albinism: "Albinism is a congenital disorder characterized by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes due to absence or defect of tyrosinase, a copper-containing enzyme involved in the production of melanin. Albinism results from inheritance of recessive gene alleles and is known to affect all vertebrates, including humans. While an organism with complete absence of melanin is called an albino ( /ælˈbaɪnoʊ/ American English,^[1] or /ælˈbiːnoʊ/ British English)^[2] an organism with only a diminished amount of melanin is described as albinoid.^[3]"

So albinism means "complete absence of melanin", which is also the definition of amelanism. What they are referring to as an albinoid, we in the reptile hobby generally refer to as a hypo. A reduction of melanin but not a total absence. Hypos retain the normal colored eyes. Amels do not.

Hope this helps

[GrifTheGreat]

Here's a quote from the mother of all information...wikipedia on amelanism: "The only pigments that mammals produce are melanins. For a mammal to be unable to chemically manufacture melanin renders it completely pigmentless. This condition is more commonly called albinism."

The term albinism originally was used to describe the condition of amelanism in mammals. The word amelanism means lack of melanin. Since mammals only have one skin pigment its removal results in an animal that is all white in appearance with red eyes. Red eyes because the red of the retina is visible through the iris.

Now here is wikipedia's definition of Albinism: "Albinism is a congenital disorder characterized by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes due to absence or defect of tyrosinase, a copper-containing enzyme involved in the production of melanin. Albinism results from inheritance of recessive gene alleles and is known to affect all vertebrates, including humans. While an organism with complete absence of melanin is called an albino ( /ælˈbaɪnoʊ/ American English,^[1] or /ælˈbiːnoʊ/ British English)^[2] an organism with only a diminished amount of melanin is described as albinoid.^[3]"

So albinism means "complete absence of melanin", which is also the definition of amelanism. What they are referring to as an albinoid, we in the reptile hobby generally refer to as a hypo. A reduction of melanin but not a total absence. Hypos retain the normal colored eyes. Amels do not.

Hope this helps

Albino translates to "white" Which is misused in this hobby quite often. A true Albino like was stated above is white or pinkish in mammals, but there are breeds that are white with red eyes that are not true albinos. In Herps its completely different because their colors are not exactly formed the same way as mammals. Amelanistic can describe either actual albino herps or partial due to one having normal eyes and is usually referred to as the Amelanistic and the ones with red or pink eyes being referred to as the true albino when in truth the term is still misused because they are not white.

[Kira Hudson]

ok the reason i reserected such a old thread was i have the baby albino i got from the expo when i got it was all yellow with pink spots and red eyes now it has some green coloring on its sides is this natural or is there some thing wrong with alby the frog

[JIvoryII]

its normal!... sometimes color fade other times they brighten and they can change as they grow