Re: albinism & melanism (aka ebony & ivory?)

[zenlizard@juno.com]

On Fri, 11 Jun 1999 09:27:06 -0400 Andrea Kirk writes:
>For some reason the strangest idea popped into my head this morning...
>Albinism is known in archosaurs (well-known in birds, and I have seen 
>an albino alligator in my lifetime), so it's a pretty reasonable guess 
>that some dinosaurs were albinos, isn't it?  Yet I've never seen any
>portrayed that way in reconstructions. 
>On the same thought, is melanism documented in reptiles and birds? 

A lot of my life is spent around herptiles in the pet industry.  Many of
the breeders these days are going for the wild color schemes, which
include hypermelanism, hypomelanism, amelanism  (having to do with dark
pigments), hyper/hypo/anerythistim  (having to do with red pigments),
etc.  The unualual color morphs bring in the big money.  While I can
imagine the odd albino dinosaur, they'd be pretty rare.  Albino animals
tend to not last long in the wild, due to standing out.  Kinda like
walking around nude at a formal dinner.

-zenlizard

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