Evolution has equipped animals with a wide variety of eye-catching
and colorful coverings, but all of that variation also means that mutations are
bound to occur. Creatures born with unusual color mutations can truly stick out
— in the most beautiful way possible.
Venus the cat
Meet
Venus, the cat with two faces. Although she has not been DNA
tested, it is believed that Venus' odd color variations — which seem to split
her face in half — are the result of chimerism, a condition where a single
organism is composed of genetically distinct cells. The good news is that this
condition doesn't affect Venus' health. Though the charismatic kitty has
collected over 250,000 Facebook followers, the
celebrity hasn't gone to her head. She's still just your average
feline.
Blue lobster
A
genetic mutation occasionally occurs in lobsters that creates an excessive
amount of a particular protein, giving them a vibrant blue exoskeleton. Though
blue lobsters are rare, they aren't uncommon either. An estimated 2 million lobsters are blue. Having a Smurf-like complexion isn't
necessarily a bad thing if you're a lobster, either. They are often spared from the cooking pot due to their
unusual coloration.
White tiger
White
tigers are rare pigmentation variants of the
Bengal tiger. Due to their ghost-like majesty, they are often a popular animal
at zoos.
It
is a common misconception that white tigers are albinos; unlike
albinos, they still produce the pigment eumelanin. Just like people have
different hair and eye color, white tigers are simply a variation. They
represent what biologists call "natural phenotypical variation," an underlying
genetic variation, among the Bengal tiger population.
Piebald python
Piebaldism is a rare
condition that affects the body's ability to make the pigment, melanin, which
gives skin its color. The result is an animal that is spotted with segments of
white pigmentation intermixed with normal pigmentation. The phenomenon is
perhaps most beautifully represented in pythons, as it creates a spectacular
design.
Though piebald animals may appear partially albino, piebaldism is
an entirely different, unrelated condition.
Strawberry
leopard
Leopards are known for their spots, but this unusual cat
might have the most special spots of all. Only two so-called "strawberry"
leopards — characterized by their ginger spots — are known to exist, one of
which is a resident of South Africa's Madikwe Game
Reserve.
It
is believed that strawberry leopards have a rare, poorly understood condition
called erythrism, which is believed to cause an overproduction of red
pigments.
Pink katydid
These extremely rare, blushing pink katydids are another spectacular result of erythrism. Though
they're beautiful, these little guys really stick out — unlike their green relatives — and that
isn't always a good thing. Predators can spot them more easily, making finding a
pink katydid especially rare.
Brown panda
bear
Few animals have such iconic coloration as pandas, but even fewer look like this. Watch this
video of the extremely rare brown panda, an animal
with normal panda coat design, but with brown patches instead of black. Only a
handful of brown pandas have ever been discovered (which also explains why we're
relying on video snapshots to show you what it looks
like.)
Black penguin
This all-black penguin is such a rare sight that it has
been called "one in a zillion." Filmed by National Geographic contributor
Andrew Evans on the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, it is the only
all-black penguin ever witnessed. Scientists suspect the coloration is due to a
condition called melanism, which is the opposite of albinism. Rather than
lacking pigmentation, melanistic animals have dark spots which cover the
body.
Gold-striped
zebra
This
zebra looks like a creature out of a fantasy novel. Rather
than possessing the typical black and white stripes, it appears
gold-striped. The unusual coloring is due to having a condition called
amelanism, which is similar to albinism. In fact, in mammals the symptoms of
amelanism and albinism are virtually
indistinguishable.
Pink dolphin
Dolphins with a pinkish hue are a relatively common sight throughout the Amazon basin. These clever carnation cetaceans are the largest freshwater dolphins in the world, and their pink coloration comes from blood vessels that are located unusually close to the skin. Individuals will vary in color from pink to gray to black and white.
With thanks to MMN
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