Albinism is an interesting defect. Albino animals appear white because they cannot produce the pigment melanin in either their skin or their eyes. Unfortunately, you cannot see the eyes of the alligator in this picture (I was lucky to get this close up picture because he or she hardly moved at all the entire time we were there), but if you could see them, they are red. Due to the lack of melanin in the eyes, we are able to see the red blood vessels lying underneath which gives them that red color.
This particular alligator was rescued from the wild and kept in captivity. Only one nest of albino alligators has ever been found in the wild. Interesting fact! Animals with albinism lack their natural camouflage, which makes them easier to spot from both a predator and a prey standpoint. The survival rate of animals in the while with albinism is very, very low.
Albino animals are also very susceptible to sunlight and can actually get sunburnt! Considering that they are ectotherms and obtain heat from their external environment, ie the sun, I would imagine that thermoregulation would be a bit tougher for this alligator. I tried to find a scholarly paper on thermoregulation in the albino alligator but couldn't find one. If anyone could help me in that department it would be greatly appreciated. I want to study animal behavior, so maybe if no one has looked into that I could be the scientist to research thermoregulation in the albino alligator. But first, I need to get through my herpetology class haha!
2 comments:
Something I overheard from the herpetologist while we were there is that the zoo that they purchased the alligator from had a complete habitat set up for it complete with shaded areas. The reason they had to sell it was because the alligator chose to bask until it burned. I know that doesn't exactly answer your question on animal behavior regarding thermoregulation but I thought it was interesting enough to point out. What was less clear was if the alligator was warmed enough before it started to burn or not. Perhaps this is a good place to start when studying the role animal behavior plays in thermoregulation.
In addition to heat, reptiles need sunlight to synthesize vitamin D. The SC Aquarium's info says they use vitamin D supplements (which is not unusual for reptiles housed indoors, pigment or no).
http://scaquarium.org/gator/gators.html
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