An almost all-white penguin was noticed on the Gabriel Gonzalez Videla Base within the Chilean Antarctica. The feminine penguin was seen chilling within the icy local weather in early January.
The penguin is from the Gentoo species, which normally has black and white feathers, however the one seen on the 4th of January was nearly fully white.
“It’s an animal with leucism, so whereas the pigment is current, it’s not current in the entire animal,” veterinarian Diego Penaloze mentioned.
“These instances are seen in several species, the place they’ve pigment, however it’s not a common pigment, so we will speak about leucism, which is completely different from albinism, the place there’s a full lack of pigment,” he added.
“Right here at (the bottom) Gabriel Gonzalez Videla, we’re 14 individuals who stay in the midst of a colony of Gentoo penguins. There are lots of of them, it’s unimaginable,” photographer Hugo Alejandro Harros Guerra, who noticed the penguin, mentioned.
“On daily basis, there’s something completely different to see. On daily basis, Antarctica and this lovely place shock us with one thing completely different,” he added.
White penguin straightforward goal
Leucistic penguins are fairly uncommon, primarily as a result of the standard black and white coloring of penguins is essential for camouflage whereas diving for fish. “On this case, being an animal with a principally white physique, it may possibly make it simpler for a predator to hunt her,” Penaloze mentioned.
“That’s the reason instances of leucism are additionally very uncommon, as a result of, along with being uncommon genes which might be hardly ever seen, they’re additionally animals which might be very uncovered, within the case of penguins, to being eaten extra simply by a predator.”
Assist The Animal Reader – Every day Animal Information
The Animal Reader is devoted to offering every day animal information accessible to all, freed from cost. Your help is important to keep up and develop our unbiased animal information platform.
3 comments
Ive read several just right stuff here Certainly price bookmarking for revisiting I wonder how a lot effort you place to create this kind of great informative website
I simply could not leave your website without expressing my admiration for the quality of the information you provided on your visitors. I anticipate revisiting frequently to explore and verify new postings.
I’ve become an eager follower of this stellar website over the past week. The owner clearly pours passion into serving up top-notch content that wows readers. I applaud their dedication and hope they keep up the ace work!