Oooo lucky!! How to choose... they are both cuties!
Paradox is a term given when a known presentation is interrupted by another presentation of color that should not be there. For example, these Ivories should present as all-white snakes, but they present patches of black and brown colorization. Albinos can also sometimes present with a paradox, areas of black and brown colorization on a snake that is specifically bred to present none of that colorization at all.
One theory on paradoxes seems to be that these snakes are chimeras - 2 embryos with different genes that fused into 1 during very early development, causing a single animal to develop with 2 sets of DNA, which both present as they "should"... but on a single animal. Another theory is that it is simply a mutation within a somatic cell early in development, causing daughter cells to also carry the mutation, which presents as the paradox coloration in the otherwise standard presentation of the animal. SCIENCE. Nobody knows for sure.
Reply With Quote