Friday, January 20, 2012

Al G. Barnes Lotus





Circus Model Builder Jay Mill's "Lotus"

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is this that museum in Vermont? Sincerely Paul

Wade G. Burck said...

Paul,
No, it was the Circus Model Builders Convention at the Tibbels Center a few years ago. I believe it is held every year. Some amazing, amazing creations to be seen.

Wade

Anonymous said...

Wade, Thanks. Sincerely Paul PS: Are those hippos with white feet partial albinos like that baby gorilla in the Dutch zoo with the pink finger tips or those albino alligators with the different colored blotches on their skin? Sincerely Paul

Wade G. Burck said...

Paul,
The way I comprehend it is, if the skin is blotched/pie bald with normal colored eyes, it is leucism, so I would suggest that is the case with the hippos and blotched alligators. I don't think leucism is the same as albinism like the miracle, Snowflake.(Geez, I regret never having laid eyes on him) I also don't think leucism is inherited or genetically transmitted, but search as I might for years, I can't find any studies suggesting it is, or isn't so I may be wrong.
Leucism, which the hippos have is a general term for the phenotype resulting from defects in pigment cell differentiation and/or migration from the neural crest to skin, hair or feathers during development. This results in either the entire surface (if all pigment cells fail to develop) or patches of body surface (if only a subset are defective) having a lack of cells capable of making pigment.(sounds like a Tabby Tiger?)
Since all pigment cell-types differentiate from the same multipotent precursor cell-type, leucism can cause the reduction in all types of pigment. This is in contrast to albinism, for which leucism is often mistaken. Albinism results in the reduction of melanin production only, though the melanocyte (or melanophore) is still present. Thus in species that have other pigment cell-types, for example xanthophores, albinos are not entirely white, but instead display a pale yellow color.(Sounds like a Champagne Lion?)

Wade

Anonymous said...

Wade, Thank you for that. I had a devil of a time finding where I had left you that message just now. There is supposed to be a breed of cattle which just have albino heads. I wonder how that works. They have the same visual pathway abnormality exhibited by white tigers and Siamese cats. I've seen pictures of leucistic birds and I was reading about sex linked albinism in budgies not too long ago. Sincerely Paul

Wade G. Burck said...

Paul,
Cattle with albino heads!!!! I have never heard of that. Are you sure they are not just white faced Angus or some other such breed? I am going to get busy and find out what I can. I don't have a clue how half of an animal could be an albino and half not. Genetically, I don't think it is possible. Strange.....

Wade

Anonymous said...

Wade, It's definitely possible. I read about these cows in the article about white tigers which appeared in Veterinary Medicine and Small Animal Clinician. I forget the publication date. It was co-authored by T.H. Reed who was the National Zoo director. There must be cases of co-dominance where an animal is albino over part of its body. I think I've seen pictures of humans like this and wouldn't Snowflake's first great grandson be an example of this with pink finger tips? Sincerely Paul