Michelle Kristen Foletta
rhamphotheca:

Whitish, Sort of Kind of Albino-like Penguin Found in Antarctica
by Christine Dell’Amore
Birds of a feather usually flock together—but not in the case of a rare  “white” mutant penguin, spotted Monday in a chinstrap penguin colony in  Antarctica. The “blonde” penguin, seen at the edge of one of the South Shetland Islands (map), “astonished” tourists on a National GeographicJourney to Antarctica cruise, naturalist David Stephens, of the Lindblad Expeditions cruise company, wrote on his blog.
Though the penguin looks like an albino, the bird actually appears to have isabellinism, said penguin expert P. Dee Boersma of the University of Washington in Seattle. The  condition is a genetic mutation that dilutes pigment in penguins’  feathers, according to a 2009 study on isabellinism published in the  journal Marine Ornithology.
This  results in a “uniform lightening” of a bird’s dark colors, turning the  animal a grayish yellow or pale brown, the study said…
(read more: National Geographic)    
(photo: David Stephens, National Geographic Expeditions )

SQUEEEEE

rhamphotheca:

Whitish, Sort of Kind of Albino-like Penguin Found in Antarctica

by Christine Dell’Amore

Birds of a feather usually flock together—but not in the case of a rare “white” mutant penguin, spotted Monday in a chinstrap penguin colony in Antarctica. The “blonde” penguin, seen at the edge of one of the South Shetland Islands (map), “astonished” tourists on a National GeographicJourney to Antarctica cruise, naturalist David Stephens, of the Lindblad Expeditions cruise company, wrote on his blog.

Though the penguin looks like an albino, the bird actually appears to have isabellinism, said penguin expert P. Dee Boersma of the University of Washington in Seattle. The condition is a genetic mutation that dilutes pigment in penguins’ feathers, according to a 2009 study on isabellinism published in the journal Marine Ornithology.

This results in a “uniform lightening” of a bird’s dark colors, turning the animal a grayish yellow or pale brown, the study said…

(read more: National Geographic)    

(photo: David Stephens, National Geographic Expeditions )

SQUEEEEE

  1. taiyakitori reblogged this from taiyakichan
  2. redknee reblogged this from rhamphotheca
  3. pharmaecopia- reblogged this from whwoolhat
  4. whwoolhat reblogged this from fushigiboy and added:
    by Christine Dell’Amore Birds of a feather usually flock together—but not in the case of a rare “white” mutant penguin,...
  5. fushigiboy reblogged this from mangemonpain and added:
    OH MY GOSH, IT’S CALLED ‘LEUCISM!’ \(@ 0 @)/
  6. mangemonpain reblogged this from rhamphotheca
  7. kimino-rock reblogged this from iamthestrange
  8. iamthestrange reblogged this from the-third-hobbit
  9. thiskatloveswater reblogged this from rhamphotheca
  10. iseesirens reblogged this from rhamphotheca
  11. miraclemayhem reblogged this from rhamphotheca
  12. dinosaur-ruby reblogged this from rhamphotheca
  13. jorgedfonseca reblogged this from worthless-art
  14. heyduhyou reblogged this from rhamphotheca
  15. weedisgodsvagina reblogged this from beautifulanonymous
  16. beautifulanonymous reblogged this from grrlrainbowlove
  17. thecatchairintherye reblogged this from votedmostunlikely
  18. yaaanyxasdfghj reblogged this from longlivetheeking
  19. pincheko reblogged this from longlivetheeking
  20. longlivetheeking reblogged this from rhamphotheca
  21. lemeesh reblogged this from rhamphotheca
  22. fallingsnowonmountains reblogged this from rhamphotheca
  23. kmakoviney reblogged this from rhamphotheca
  24. cirquedugalaxie reblogged this from rhamphotheca
  25. sophie-sophie-youre-beautiful reblogged this from rhamphotheca
  26. pureaka reblogged this from rhamphotheca