Partial Albinism in the Syrian Hamster

Abstract

DURING 1954, and also in 1955, a new mutant white hamster was imported from the United States. The adult mutant possesses pink (pigmentless) eyes and a white pelage but with dark (pigmented) ear pinna. The pigment is dark (melanin) and resides in the skin, the hair on the ears being white. Pigment is also present in the skin of the prepuce (as spots) and in the scrotum of males ; and in the perineum region of females. The amount of pigment in the ear appears comparable to that present in the normal golden hamster; but the amount in the genital regions is reduced. The young hamster at twenty-one days of age is devoid of skin melanism, with flesh-pink ears. By twenty-six days of age (range 24–28 days) the ears are distinctly tinged with pale grey. By the thirty-first day the ear colour is grey; thereafter the ear darkens more slowly, eventually becoming black. Some 2–3 months may elapse before pigment is manifested in the genitals. These observations strongly suggest that the phenotype is that of a thermo-sensitive acromelanic albino . (such as the Himalayan rabbit or Siamese cat). The symbol c^d is proposed for the mutant allele.