#piebaldism

[amber-tortoiseshell]

hello! do you know why piebaldism (the Ws allele in cats) is so common in domestic animals? to my knowledge it occurs in cats, dogs, horses, cows, mice, etc. it just seems weird that this specific mutation is so prevalent cross-species, is it just selective breeding? you're the only blog i know that talks about coat genetics in different species so i thought maybe you would know 😅

Piebaldism is an "easy" phenotype: all kind of different mutations that results in worse functioning melanocytes can give white patches. Horses for example have piebald mutations on at least five different genes (EDNRB, KIT, MITF, PAX3 and TRPM1). Probably all those animals you listed have different and unique piebald mutations.

I think this is why it's so common: it doesn't need a specific mutation, just something that turns down pigment production. And turning something off is always easier than changing it but keeping the main functionality.

Piebaldism is observed in all kind of wild animals too, it probably often turns up spontaneously; and by all likeliness that's what happened with early domestic animals too. From that it was simple selective breeding; humans always liked special-looking animals.

[fyanimaldiversity]

Piebald Eurasian Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)

@ camogains

[black-bird-red-belly]

My female megaraptor from a Beasts of Bermuda realism server :)

[shadyufo]

Found a young deer dead in the woods yesterday. She was a fawn from this spring and I'm pretty sure she was another coyote kill—they've definitely been eating on her.

She had some unique coloration on her hooves. Both rear hooves were normal black but one front hoof was all white except for the dewclaws and the other was stripey.

There's a yearling buck around here with white hair around his hooves that I nicknamed Twinkle Toes. I wonder if this little doe was related to him.

[furiarossa]

Piebaldism refers to the absence of mature melanin-forming cells (melanocytes) in certain areas of the skin and hair. It is a rare autosomal dominant disorder of melanocyte development.

Common characteristics include a congenital white forelock, scattered normal pigmented and hypopigmented macules and a triangular shaped depigmented patch on the forehead. There is nevertheless great variation in the degree and pattern of presentation, even within affected families.

Although "partial albinism" is a synonym for piebaldism,[3] it is a fundamentally different condition from true albinism. The vision problems associated with albinism are not usually present as eye pigmentation is normal. Piebaldism differs from albinism in that the affected cells maintain the ability to produce pigment but have that specific function turned off. In albinism the cells lack the ability to produce pigment altogether.

Hypopigmented patches of variable extension, irregular, bilateral, symmetrical or asymmetrical, well demarcated, can also be located along the midline on the chin, chest, abdomen and middle third of the limbs. Subsequently, you may see the appearance of hyperpigmented patches in the center or at the edges of the hypopigmented patches or, less commonly, on normal skin.

Piebald hypopigmentation usually does not affect hands, and since we always see Vlad covered from neck to feet (personally we tend to not consider much the informations that we get from the third season, everything is so silly...), can it be possible for him to have the hypopigmentated pattern on his body? Y'know, typical piebald pattern?

(Illustration from this document)

(A little unrelated curiosity, and I don't know why I find it amusing and interesting, but Aldo Moro, one of the most famous and important Italian prime ministers, was piebald and he's on the Italian wikipedia page for piebaldism)

[thegreatprinceoftheforest]

Northern White-tailed Deer (Piebald) | Alan Wells

[packpack-killkill]

European Jackal (Piebald) | Dimitris Arampatzis

[vitiligo-is-not-a-trend]

from your expertise, what is the difference between vitiligo and piebaldism? you mentioned the latter on this blog a couple times, but the blog search is broken again so i can't find any of your posts on it. also i just wanted to thank you for reblogging those posts debunking the idea that michael jackson got skin bleaching and a nose job, i'd believed false rumors before i read that

You're welcome! There's unfortunately a lot of misinformation and fear-mongering when it comes to Vitiligo as a condition :(

I would like to preface that I myself do not have piebaldism and have not studied it as extensively as I have with vitiligo.

So vitiligo is a genetic defect caused during a person's lifetime, where the immune system attacks melanocytes, causing the skin to de-pigmentalize.

Piebaldism is a birth defect in which, during fetal development, melanocytes are prevented from migrating, thus resulting in white patches on the skin and hair.

Other major differences include: piebaldism being stagnant, while vitiligo has the ability to change and grow, The stages of life in which they are able to develop, The genetic factors at play, and its appearance (from what I can tell piebaldism tends to form in similar patterns but I could be quite wrong about this).

I also believe that piebaldism has the ability to affect every pigmentation cell type, which is why snakes can have piebaldism but not vitiligo.

[ke3ro]

Wip of art for my DnD character, Melody, she/they

Satyr bard

Main instrument is the lyre

[hylasregillasisopods]

trip to Thailand < flipping cardboard in my dad's compost bin

[phela]

So .... Since the account has been empty for a long time, I decided to upload an old work here. This is a Ghost, an albino sandwing (Piebaldism). This idea came to me a long time ago, but I didn’t think it through to the end. Since Ghost Piebaldism is not completely devoid of pigment. Due to the fact that it is sandwing, I have not quite decided on how well it will cope with the desert heat, but I may think it over later

[fyanimaldiversity]

If you go to iNaturalist, and look for great white sharks, there is a sighting and a series of photos in Turkish waters, in northwest turkey right below Bulgaria, of a piebald specimen

Thank you so much! I’m in love with the white fin!

[criilock]

Quick art trade i did with my friend, i drew their cleric Eliora ✨

[giugirl743]

@tamisdava2

Cookies n cream bambi

(via)

[thegreatprinceoftheforest]

Northern White-tailed Deer (Piebald) | Mel Diotte

[rebeccawangart]

Chiyo (2024)

This unique kitty is Chiyo (@chiyopurrs )! She is a brown tabby and white cat with a very unique piebald marking pattern. I found her account a few months ago and fell in love with her unique style. Then I had the honor of creating her portrait in my signature vibrant colorful style! Her portrait was painted with acrylics on an 8x10 inch stretched canvas.