Genetic Color Mutations that are thriving in the Wild???

[Jyson]

Seeing the huge variety in color and pattern of certain captive animals (like ball pythons) makes me wonder if there are genetic mutations in reptile species (like albino, etc.) that has been seen, or caught (more than once) in the wild and were thriving.

I've heard of pied ball pythons being found in the wild, that were apparently thriving, but what else? What about an albino cobra, or a hypo burmese?

[Freakie_frog]

I've heard stories of Hypo's, Calico's, Pastels, Yb's thing's like that coming in on those mass WC shipments. I remember hearing that Hypo's and YB's are the most commonly imported morph out.

I also know for a fact that in LA there is a gator farm that was featured on Dirty Jobs, the guy states that every year they get 5-6 albino gators out of the same nest from the same female..which means there are loads of Het albino gator males running around some where.

I'm sure there are all sorts of stuff running around..Guy at my dear camp has a trail cam pic of an albino White Tail on some of our property.

Pied is a term used to describe a mutation in horses, parrots, crows, and a few other animals..

Their out there..

[WingedWolfPsion]

Hypermelanistic (black) Eastern garters populate some areas of Ohio, and I caught a red-phase Plains garter in my back yard here in Omaha.

Whether a color mutation is detrimental depends on what the color mutation IS. Albinism is going to make it harder for animals to thrive, because they stand out against the background. Likewise for hypomelanism, but only up to a point. Mutations that interfere with pattern may also disrupt an animal's camouflage, but not always. Hypermelanism is probably the most likely mutation to find thriving in the wild, and you see hypermelanistic animals in a wide variety of species doing exactly that.

Some of the mutations we love in ball pythons probably cause no problems in the wild. Yellowbelly (so long as it's the single-gene form), cinnamon, etc.

All of our beloved mutations were found in animals caught in the wild, not one has spontaneously appeared in captivity, to the best of our knowledge.

[Jyson]

Hypermelanistic (black) Eastern garters populate some areas of Ohio, and I caught a red-phase Plains garter in my back yard here in Omaha.

Whether a color mutation is detrimental depends on what the color mutation IS. Albinism is going to make it harder for animals to thrive, because they stand out against the background. Likewise for hypomelanism, but only up to a point. Mutations that interfere with pattern may also disrupt an animal's camouflage, but not always. Hypermelanism is probably the most likely mutation to find thriving in the wild, and you see hypermelanistic animals in a wide variety of species doing exactly that.

Some of the mutations we love in ball pythons probably cause no problems in the wild. Yellowbelly (so long as it's the single-gene form), cinnamon, etc.

All of our beloved mutations were found in animals caught in the wild, not one has spontaneously appeared in captivity, to the best of our knowledge.

Yeah I noticed that too with the herps in my area as well. Does anyone know if there were certain recessive mutations (aside from pied) that were discovered in the wild?

Just a random thought - I also just think it would be fascinating to find out that a certain genetic mutation could be more successful than the "normal" version of a said species. But I suppose if something like that were to happen we would have heard about it by now.

[kremmel]

Deer also come in piebald, albino, and hypermelanistic (albeit very rare) in the wild. They all seem to do fine. The morphs may help the animal in some way, like having other animals mistakenly recognize it as poisonous- but thats a long shot.