Paleoartists sometimes depict ancient animals affected with albinism or melanism – white or black. It’s a nice touch and certainly realistic, as they are among the most common and recognizable types of mutation affecting animal pigmentation. Since they are phylogenetically widespread today, there is no reason to think they wouldn’t have popped up in ancient animal populations too.
In the last few years, I have looked into colour genetics of several species of pets, including rats, horses and parrots, as well as collected photos of aberrant animals in the wild. It has struck me how similar the genetics of colour are across species, and how the same spontaneous mutations crop up again and again – not just albinism and melanism, but others too. Certainly, these same ones would have happened in prehistoric times, and might provide interesting ideas for paleoart. Let’s have a look!
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