Yes, under the textbook definition of polymorphism, anything that can be passed along to the next generation is a "morph". But you can not deny the fact that in this hobby, we use the term morph to indicate animals who have a different color or pattern than the "normal" or "wild type". Color and pattern changes are usually not dangerous to the animal, and these animals could and do thrive in the wild, with albinism being a possible exception due to increased predation. However, to call color and pattern variations a deformity is a bit of a stretch in the practical sense. Calling an animal who is born with and can pass along detrimental structural mutations is the practical definition of a deformity. If anyone would like to argue that a scaleless BP could or has thrived in the wild, please feel free to do so, but I will always draw a very sharp distinction between structural and non-structural mutations.
Is a red eyed tree frog born with no eyes a morph? By definition, sure...How many of those would you like to breed. How about 3 legged German Shepherds? How many of those "morphs" do you want to order?










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