The three albinos.....

So I'm doing a little research on color morphology in reptiles (always been a passion of mine...) and I thought I had understood the whole Tyrosinase + and Tyrosinase - thing until I started looking at Leopard Geckos. So what I am curious about is how we ended up with three non - allelically compatible amelanistics. My guess is (based on looks and my understanding of the physics behind it) that both Tremper and Bell amels are a form of Tyrosinase + amelanism and that Rainwaters are a form of Tyrosinae - amelanism. So my question is has anybody researched this any further? If two or three of these are all the same form of amelanism, has any one looked into where the fault is in the breakdown of tyrosine to dopa to dopaquinone to melanin? Any one that can help with this I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks,
Ian
Silver Rose Reptiles

Jodi Aherns (Ground Gecko Freak) had all three strains tested. All three strains are actually Tyrosinase +. The rainwaters just tend to be lighter on the whole.

-Alice

could it be that leopard geckos is a common name given to a group of sub-species?

It may well be that they are all amelanistic version of different subspecies. It is extremely odd that all three are not compatible, especially when all three are T+. It will be even more interesting if Justin gets the Leshock form proven to be different yet again.

My original question still stands though, has any one been able to determine why they are all not compatible?

Albinism occurs when there is some defect preventing the normal distribution and production of melanin. Because melanin production is controlled by a variety of different genes, there are a variety of mutations that could result in an albino.

Here is a site dealing with the various albino strains of hamsters. I think that it would be analagous to the situation with leos. http://hometown.aol.com/theriverrd/dilute_albinism.htm

Here's another decent site on albinism: http://www.compusmart.ab.ca/kbush/albino.htm

-Alice

could you please tell me what the Leshock form is about

I think it was a few year back that Mark Leshock hatched out an albino from a group of wild caughts (I'm not real sure on this). I think he sold all but one het male to a buyer overseas. The one het male is owned by Justyn Miller. So far, the strain has not been proven out; it is unknown whether it is indeed a fourth strain or if it is actually the same as one of the three known strains (Tremper, Rainwater, and Bell).

-Alice