#depigmentation

[felinefractious]

🐱 Bengal

📸 Michelle Jefferies

🎨 Seal Point Rosetted Tabby [with depigmentation condition]

[namu-the-orca]

Colour anomalies in the Short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis)

As some of you may know I’ve a bit of a weak spot for everything weird with cetaceans: hybrids, deformities, colour anomalies - I love it all. And Short-beaked common dolphins are a gold mine in that last department. I don’t think any other species displays quite so many different anomalies, and with such frequency, as this one. Some, like the melanistic form, are almost ‘normal’ and quite stereotypical in their presentation. Others, like the dolphins in row 4, are highly unique. So earlier this year I made this poster documenting all know anomalies - initially just for fun but I ended up quite liking it! I hope you’ll have fun perusing the oddities of Delphinus delphis too. 

Most of these are based on several animals with similar anomalies. However, since the animals in row 4 are all so unique, here’s specific credits to their spotters: 4A was an individual stranded in the UK; 4B, D and E are all photographed by Lisa Steiner of Whale Watch Azores; 4C by Capt. Dave’s Dolphin Safari, 4F by Marilia Olio, and 4G was published in this article here.

[c4n1ne]

A recently spotted Risso’s dolphin (Grampus griseus) displaying albinism.

[c3nobit3s]

So I have this lil lock of grey hair which I had since puberty. It freaked me out when I first spotted it, but then my dermatologist explained that it was just depigmentation in that area of the scalp. Or so, vitiligo. I felt relieved knowing there was an explanation for my sudden *greyness*. However, the kids in my class were like waiting for another *excuse* to make fun of me because as soon as they spotted it I got mocked pretty much on a daily basis. Even one hairstylist back then looked pretty weirded out seeing me, a teen girl, with a lock of grey hair. I explained to her why I had it, but she still seemed weirded out by it. To avoid further ridule, I decided to start cutting it, but of course each time it only grew back. I kept cutting it for years. Until one day in high school one girl in my class spotted it. I guess I didn't cut enough of it for her to spot it. Immediately I felt a wave of nervousness wash over me. "Shit will she mock me and tell others and will it be like elementary all over again"? I thought to myself. To my own huge surprise and relief she thought it was cool and told others about it in a positive way. Since then I haven't cut it not even *once*. I guess sometimes it just takes a bit of kindness to take away all the bullshit that you've been getting for years.

[foxyufos]

what science may never be able to explain is our ineffable fear of the alien among us; a fear which often drives us not to search for understanding, but to deceive, inveigle, and obfuscate

Teliko

4x03

[mad--house]

[aonitori]

my New Years makeup 💄

[c4n1ne]

A leucistic American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) in Piedmont, Ohio (1998).

Leucism is similar to albinism. Whereas albinism causes a total absence of melanin in an animal, leucism causes a partial lack of melanin. Most notably, an albino animal will usually posses red or pink eyes, while a leucistic animal usually retains dark, pigmented eyes.