The original import that lessers descended from (at least initially, there have been other lines imported since, I believe) was named "Platinum" by Ralph Davis. When he first bred, he threw babies that looked very different....not normals, but not "platinums" either. So Ralph named them "Lesser Platinums" because they weren't quite as amazing as their daddy. The original male was nicknamed "Platy Daddy" and as already mentioned, the name of the lesser was shortened through overall community use.
So... Platinum = Platy Daddy and Lesser Platinum = Lesser
I'm not exactly sure who did what first with which snakes...but somewhere along the way, in the attempt to recreate the original Platinum look...two lessers were bred together and popped out a pure white snake with blue eyes. No Platinums.
Eventually, Ralph figured out that in order to create the Platinum, the lesser had to be bred back to a "normal" sibling that carries a hidden gene. The combination of the "lesser" gene and the "hidden" gene create the Platinum. Two lesser genes creates the BEL.
Here's Ralph's old page on the Platy Daddy...
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