A Peek at the Nature
posted under
Science
by greynut
Nature has a peculiar way to show its power. More often than not it is shown in its destructive forms. Deadly hurricanes and catastrohpic earthquakes just to name a few. Sometimes, the fairer side is put on display. Stunning panorama, eye candy sceneries and lush greeneries often come into mind in that aspect. Then again there are just some phenomenas that are outright mind boggling and inexplicable. Freakish if you will. Combinations of the aforementioned three features are not uncommon. Beautiful, yet deadly.Weird and fatal. You get the idea.
I read an article on National Geographic website featuring white lions today. Yes, white lions.The article can be found here.
Majestic,beautiful, and cute but no problem whatsoever when it comes to mauling a 150kg-250kg wildebeest in group . The notion of deadliness usually do not come across the mind of most people once they come across white animals which are not so usually. No thanks to images of adorable and cuddly snow white animals conjured in our minds which have been imprinted over the years misled by many causes. There is no denying that animals with snowy white fur like rabbits and hamsters are harmless. However, there are unexceptionally high exceptions in the animal kingdom in which it's opposite.
To be different than others of the same species in the animal kingdom means invoking dangers. Survival is at the top of list in the animal kingdom, predators and preys alike. For a prey to stand out among its species means an easy target for predators while a predator which can be easily detected is as good in hunting as polices announcing who they are going to arrest tomorrow in the news today. In fact, these black sheep are often than not isolated by their own groups. Isolation certainly shaves off survival chances of those in the animal kingdom, more so for animals who are live in groups.
So when I saw the article, the first thing that came up my mind is how are these cats going to survive in the wild. It turns out that they live in captivity. In fact, most of these cases happen in captivity. Reason? It's the same reason as mentioned above. They don't have much survival chance in the wild. In captivity, these animals are safe from so many wild elements. They don't even do much of what their species do in the wild: hunting, roaming and etc. I wonder if they still retain their animal instincts.
Further probing at Wikipedia for the reason for these abnormal occurences shows that genetic condition known as Leucism. Unlike mutation where genetic information is altered, leucism is a condition where recessive genes are present instead of dominant ones. A simple example is albinism. You would think that evolution would have eliminate these seemingly defective genes from the gene pool and survival of the fittest should have taken its course long ago. However, evolution is not as easy as that. If all but the fittest meet their ends, wouldn't the process of evolution cease? That's something to ponder upon.
Adieu, graynut signing off.
I read an article on National Geographic website featuring white lions today. Yes, white lions.The article can be found here.
Majestic,beautiful, and cute but no problem whatsoever when it comes to mauling a 150kg-250kg wildebeest in group . The notion of deadliness usually do not come across the mind of most people once they come across white animals which are not so usually. No thanks to images of adorable and cuddly snow white animals conjured in our minds which have been imprinted over the years misled by many causes. There is no denying that animals with snowy white fur like rabbits and hamsters are harmless. However, there are unexceptionally high exceptions in the animal kingdom in which it's opposite.
To be different than others of the same species in the animal kingdom means invoking dangers. Survival is at the top of list in the animal kingdom, predators and preys alike. For a prey to stand out among its species means an easy target for predators while a predator which can be easily detected is as good in hunting as polices announcing who they are going to arrest tomorrow in the news today. In fact, these black sheep are often than not isolated by their own groups. Isolation certainly shaves off survival chances of those in the animal kingdom, more so for animals who are live in groups.
So when I saw the article, the first thing that came up my mind is how are these cats going to survive in the wild. It turns out that they live in captivity. In fact, most of these cases happen in captivity. Reason? It's the same reason as mentioned above. They don't have much survival chance in the wild. In captivity, these animals are safe from so many wild elements. They don't even do much of what their species do in the wild: hunting, roaming and etc. I wonder if they still retain their animal instincts.
Further probing at Wikipedia for the reason for these abnormal occurences shows that genetic condition known as Leucism. Unlike mutation where genetic information is altered, leucism is a condition where recessive genes are present instead of dominant ones. A simple example is albinism. You would think that evolution would have eliminate these seemingly defective genes from the gene pool and survival of the fittest should have taken its course long ago. However, evolution is not as easy as that. If all but the fittest meet their ends, wouldn't the process of evolution cease? That's something to ponder upon.
Adieu, graynut signing off.