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How about an albino sea turtle pix (Original Post) packman Jan 2018 OP
''Not Albino, Leucistic Turtle'' Donkees Jan 2018 #1
Thanks for the clarification. Nitram Jan 2018 #3
What a stunningly... 3catwoman3 Jan 2018 #2
Although beautiful, lacking melanin endangers its health. SunSeeker Jan 2018 #4
Stunningly Beautiful! burrowowl Jan 2018 #5
Very cool! Floyd R. Turbo Jan 2018 #6

Donkees

(31,537 posts)
1. ''Not Albino, Leucistic Turtle''
Sun Jan 7, 2018, 02:19 PM
Jan 2018
Not Albino, Leucistic Turtle

The Sea Turtle seen in the picture is protected by a Sea Turtle Conservation Project in a small town of Sri Lanka called Kosgoda. Shown in the video below is a clipping of the beautiful species swimming in waters. Reportedly, there are two such rare turtles in the sanctuary of Sri Lanka. But like mentioned most often online, the turtle is not Albinistic, it is Leucistic. You can see a case of Albino turtle on mail Online website dailymail.co.uk. While Albinism is characterized by the reduction in production of skin pigment Melanin, Leucism is associated with reduction in multiple types of pigment, not just melanin. In case of Leucism, there will be partial loss of pigmentation in the animal resulting in white, pale, or patchy coloration of the skin, hair, feathers, scales or cuticle, but not the eyes. Albinos are not entirely white, but generally display a pale yellow color, and the animals typically have red eyes due to the underlying blood vessels showing through. On the contrary, most leucistic animals have normal colored eyes.

http://www.hoaxorfact.com/science/picture-of-rare-albino-sea-turtle-facts.html




SunSeeker

(51,811 posts)
4. Although beautiful, lacking melanin endangers its health.
Mon Jan 8, 2018, 06:28 PM
Jan 2018

I know that albino dolphins suffer from skin cancer. http://theodysseyonline.com/sdsu/pink-dolphins-exists-who-knew/165507 This link has graphic photos: https://dolphinproject.com/blog/dolphin-project-vet-pink-dolphins-skin-cancer-very-advanced/

I imagine the sea turtle's head and flippers are particularly at risk.


As breeding occurs in dwindling, isolated populations, we will probably see more of this.

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