There are many genetic coloration defects that have surprised scientist and geneticists of late. For off the coast of the North Pacific's Commander Islands scientists were studying acoustic and social interactions between whales and dolphins, when they spotted a six foot tall white dorsal fin. This white whale is in fact a killer whale and he was given the name Iceberg due to his white coloration. The scientists believe that this is not Icebergs first siting. For they believe that he is the same killer whale that was spotted off the coast of Alaska's Aleutian Islands in 2000 and 2008. Though his coloration is less dark and molted than the previous whale, both whales seem to be very similar, and the pod that Iceberg was traveling with has the same markings as those that were spotted with the other whales, concluding that they are the same family members. Also his coloration could possibly change because of algae growing on the skin with certain seasons, which would make a white animal more darker.
Another coloration defect that has astonished the world, is that of a cat named Venus. Three year old Venus has become the most popular cat on the planet, with three million hits on youtube and her recent appearance on the
Today Show she has baffled the world, with her half black and half orange tabby striped face and her one blue and one green eye, peering at you. This defect though rare can be explained by geneticists. Venus is believed to be a "chimera." A feline chimera is a cat whose cells contain two types of DNA, caused when two embryos fuse together. A chimera actually is not all that rare though in cats and, in male tortoiseshell cats, the distinctive orange and black coat is a sign of the extra X chromosome. But females already have an extra X chromosome so they already can sport the coat without an extra one. So the only way to test the theory is through DNA fingerprinting and if Venus is a chimera one side of the bodies DNA should be different than the other. The one characteristic that can not be explained about Venus is her single blue eye. Most cats eyes are green or yellow, only cats that are Siamese or white every really have blue eyes and Venus only has a white patch on her chest, which is not enough to explain her blue eye. These defects are astonishing and prove that there is so many more surprises on our planet that we have yet to discover and have yet to understand.
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