Albino Animals
Have you ever seen an albino animal? They are usually white or a lighter color than they should be. Albinisim is not a disease that you can catch. Most forms of albinism is passed from parent to child. Albinisim is when the color (pigment) is missing from the cells that give the skin, fur, feathers, or eyes of animals their color. Sometimes, the eyes of an animal will be red because the blood vessels in the eye shows through when there isn't enough color to cover them. This is rare in humans, because our eyes are large enough to have enough pigment to color the eye, usually making the iris pale blue.
(shown below: The albino peacock, guinea pig, wallaby, crayfish, rat, and eagle. All albino.)
Peacock: picture is courtesy of Lyn Oakleaf (Thanks!); guinea pig (photo info); wallaby (photo info); crayfish ( Photograph by Wes C. Skiles permission from National Geographic); rat (photo info); eagle (Photograph by Constance Hass permission from National Geographic)
