See the Yellow Cardinal
Feb. 26th, 2018 07:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithIt lacks the enzyme that turns yellow pigment red, giving cardinals their scarlet plumage. The article doesn't say whether this mutation can be passed on or only affects the individual.
Re: Thank you!
Date: 2018-02-27 05:43 am (UTC)This article gives the condition a name, xanthochroism, which just means "yellow colored." We can put that alongside albino, leucistic, and melanistic for describing the color phases of wildlife. The article mentions another yellow cardinal which has been around several years. People have watched for a mate but not seen one. As female cardinals tend to prefer the reddest males, the success rate of these is likely to be low, unless humans intervene or they find a pervert.
Re: Thank you!
Date: 2018-02-27 08:36 am (UTC)Oh. Yeah. That explains it! 🙂
While everyone else is going, "Oh, a yellow cardinal! How cool!" I quickly start to wonder, "Why is that cardinal yellow? For that matter, why are all the others red? Can it be inherited at all? If so, is it dominant or recessive?"
I've never been the best at genetics, so I don't necessarily wonder about the specific details in the same depth as you might, but I wondered all of those things, too. Thanks for linking to an answer (or at least as much of one as science has for now).
This article gives the condition a name, xanthochroism, which just means "yellow colored." We can put that alongside albino, leucistic, and melanistic for describing the color phases of wildlife.
I may
or may notnope, I definitely did spend about two hours falling down the rabbit hole that is describing animal coloration.As female cardinals tend to prefer the reddest males, the success rate of these is likely to be low, unless humans intervene or they find a pervert.
I am both giggling at and in love with your phrasing there at the end! 😆😍
Re: Thank you!
Date: 2018-03-07 12:06 am (UTC)Re: Thank you!
Date: 2018-03-07 12:10 am (UTC)