View Full Version : Paradox? What now?
I've recently seen a few pictures on snakes dubbed "paradox" something (albino, snow, etc). I'm just curious as to why the name paradox? What exactly is paradoxal about it, it is pretty obviously piebaldism, isn't it?
I dunno, perhaps I am missing something. (I would post pics, but, ya know, legal issues). Just do a search for "paradox albino" or "paradox boa" in yahoo.
Zoe
Well, an albino animal is supposed to lack dark pigment - melanin. Paradox albinos are usually an alibino animal but with spots of black/dark pigment on them. The last thing an albino should have is dark pigment...so it's a paradox animal. :)
Paradox albino kenyan sand boas are a great example.
Colonel SB
08-09-03, 10:16 AM
Zoe the term Paradox Albino comes form the meaning of Prardox "A statment actually self-contradictory or false"
Get it how can it be an albino when there is black on it...Make sence?
Question: If an 'albino' has dark pigmentation, wouldn't that make it a non-albino? If albino animals are characterized by their lack of dark pigmentation, then animals with some dark pigmentation wouldn't really be considered albino...
I bring this up, as one day not too long ago I took my Girl, (my albino leopard gecko), to the store with me and a friend of mine called her a "Chocolate Albino." I thought this was rediculous! I love her pinky-purplely coloration but she completely lacks truely dark pigmentation. (She's a Tremp for all those interested). This is a very interesting topic... I'd like to hear more about what you guys think....
Yes I realize that... but that is exactly the definition of piebaldism! Piebald (in horses, anyway!) is when horses are have albino spots and other areas with pigmentation. Basically it means that in some areas of the body you see hypomelanosis, which is the lack of black pigment (albino). Some even have half brown/half pink eyes (as I've seen on the tongues of some of these snakes). Dunno, seems more like piebaldism than paradoxism to me?
Darlene
08-09-03, 12:24 PM
I have to agree with you there, Zoe. It is the definition of piebaldism by equine standards. Perhaps my Kenyan will be a pinto & not a paradox !!! I guess it is all in the terminology used.
reverendsterlin
08-09-03, 12:41 PM
Piebaldism is a rare autosomal dominant disorder of melanocyte development. Piebaldism is due to an absence of melanocytes in affected skin and hair follicles (for non-reptiles) as a result of mutations of the KIT proto-oncogene and correlates with the site of the mutation within the KIT gene. Paradox albinos result from incomplete Tyrosinase blockage in some cells that allows melanin to be produced, so basically it is 'how' the genes are affected that makes the difference between piebald and paradox.
Jeff_Favelle
08-09-03, 02:03 PM
Piebald has nothing to do with albino or tyrosinase (like the Rev said!). Paradox albinos are simply albinos that have melanin pathways completed on "spots" on their bodies. Its a paradox. Its supposed to be an amelanistic animal, yet it has normal parts on the body. The white on a pied is NOT albino (amelanistic).
reverendsterlin
08-09-03, 02:39 PM
dang it Jeff, I couldn't think of a simple way to state the difference. Showoff! lol j/k bro
lol, yes it is all very clear now.
The white on a pied is NOT albino (amelanistic). Yup, I know. I believed the definition of piebald applied to both amelanism and albinism (plus melanism, of course). Guess not!
I'll stick with my horsies, they make more sense to me :)
Zoe
Jeff_Favelle
08-09-03, 03:40 PM
Rev, that's because you don't have a drnk before you come and post. Ask our good buddy hip. He knows the value of alcohol and ssnakess.com. Ha ha, J/K!! :D
Well I would have tried to reply sooner but I was out getting beer Jeff lol remind me to give you a boot in the arse if you come for a visit
Hip
Jeff_Favelle
08-09-03, 06:18 PM
Now if you're going to kick my a$$, why the heck would I come and visit???
Oh yeah, free beer. Riiiighhhht........
Well folks I proclaim Jeff to be as nutty as me (no small feat for sure.Welcome to the club Jeff all the fancy dinner jackets lace up in the back the hours are long but the work is easy damn dining room smells like rubber though I find that strange lol
Hip
That's right Jeff all the beer you can drink(My company has a supply contract with a certian brewery who will remain unnamed) So I guess being in sales does have some advantages from time to time. Though it is not like it used to be in the past it can be rewarding at times (nudge nudge wink wink) And that's all I am saying about that.
Hip
Jeff_Favelle
08-09-03, 06:36 PM
Just keep quiet folks. A couple more cold ones and hip will spill the beans. Heh heh....he always does.......:D
Darlene
08-09-03, 08:54 PM
From paradox to piebald to beer.....
hhmmmm.....how interesting.....
* takes another gulp of mudshake cooler *
Jeff_Favelle
08-09-03, 09:07 PM
LOL!
:::Sipping Hard Lemonade::: I prefer flavored beer... and clear definitions. I'm still confused on this whole albino or not question... If an albino has dark pigmentation what do you call it? Surely it wouldn't be a 'true' albino.... And what about "Chocolate Albinos"? Is this just another fancy term to cash in on 'purplely' albinos? :::sigh:::
Samba... albinism is the congenital (from birth) absence of any pigmentation or coloration. Soo the animal in question could still express certain colour pigments, and I believe even melanin in some cases, as long as one pigment is absent. "Amelanism", however, is the absence of any melanin, and coined terms like "axanthic" refer to the absence of another pigment (in that case, yellow).
At least, that is my understanding of the whole sh'bang!
Zoe
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