Bechtel on hypos

Posted by terry, albino tricolors on July 24, 2002 at 12:17:52:

In Reply to: Re: a point of view on the hypo discussion... posted by mark kreuter on July 24, 2002 at 00:18:23:

Bechtel, in Reptile & Amphibian Variants, says:
"The (albino Japanese rat snakes from the city of Iwakuni, Japan) are true albinos, but many snakes with diminished pigmentation are not...

"...a huge pool of anomalous reptiles and amphibians with diminished melanin are lumped under the term hypomelanistic. Hypo is defined as less than normal or deficient. They hae a degree of melanin, and range frm the almost classical albino to those with a nearly normal melanin complement. Hypomelanistic phenotypes are unpredictable and are often described on the basis of their appearance: yellow albinos, xanthic albinos, and red albinos, for example. Hypomelanism is an imprecise term at best..." (p 53-54)

It's interesting that although he says they're often described as types of albinos, he begins that sentence by describing them as "hypomelanistic phenotypes".

Follow Ups:

• huh-uh! my point. MY POINT! Terry 07/24/02 (2)
  • Are Hypos albinos or are albinos hypos? Jeff S. 07/24/02 (1)
    • Re: Are Hypos albinos or are albinos hypos? Terry 07/24/02 (0)
• MY point exactly!!n/p Jeff Schofield 07/24/02 (0)

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: Bechtel, in Reptile & Amphibian Variants, says: : "The (albino Japanese rat snakes from the city of Iwakuni, Japan) are true albinos, but many snakes with diminished pigmentation are not... : "...a huge pool of anomalous reptiles and amphibians with diminished melanin are lumped under the term hypomelanistic. Hypo is defined as less than normal or deficient. They hae a degree of melanin, and range frm the almost classical albino to those with a nearly normal melanin complement. Hypomelanistic phenotypes are unpredictable and are often described on the basis of their appearance: yellow albinos, xanthic albinos, and red albinos, for example. Hypomelanism is an imprecise term at best..." (p 53-54) : It's interesting that although he says they're often described as types of albinos, he begins that sentence by describing them as "hypomelanistic phenotypes".

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