Starbucks reports weak quarterly results despite the arrival of Pumpkin Spice Latte season
Russia and Iran may fuel violent post-election protests in the US, intelligence officials warn
Baker Hughes beats quarterly profit estimates on international drilling demand
West blasts China on rights, China responds: What about Gaza?
UN says Haiti conflict has 'worsened' as gangs push fresh attacks
Britain and Germany to bolster defence cooperation with new agreement
Australia takes insurer QBE to court over pricing discounts
Corvex founder Meister sees big upside for stocks already targeted by others
Bucs' Chris Godwin to have surgery, likely out for season. Fellow WR Mike Evans to miss 3 games
49ers WR Deebo Samuel gets released from the hospital, AP source says
Trump will conduct an interview with Joe Rogan for his podcast
WASHINGTON (AP) — Photos of a white bison calf in Yellowstone National Park have generated excitement as well as questions: How does that happen?
A park visitor said she took the photographs in the park earlier this month, showing a fuzzy white youngster being nuzzled by its dark brown mother. Park officials said this week that they hadn’t yet spotted a white calf in the sprawling park in Wyoming and Montana, home to about 5,000 bison, also called American buffalo.
In the wild, there are two genetic variations that may result in unusually light-colored animals — leucism and albinism. In both conditions, the animal inherits two copies of the gene mutation — one from each parent, who usually appear normally colored themselves.
Leucistic animals lack some cells that otherwise produce melanin, a natural pigment that gives color to fur, eyes, feathers and skin. Their bodies may appear almost entirely white, or only white in patches, and they generally have normal or dark-colored eyes.
Albinism, which is more rare, results from the complete absence of melanin. Albino animals are nearly totally white, and they may have light pink or orange-colored eyes and reduced vision. Albino bison will lack dark colors in their eyes, noses and hooves, said James Derr, a geneticist at Texas A&M University.
The Yellowstone calf, with its black nose and eyes, is not albino, said Jim Matheson, executive director of the National Bison Association.
There's a third possibility: A light-colored calf could be the result of a bison crossed with a white domestic cow. In that case, the calf may be light tan-colored, with brown eyes and a black or brown nose, said Derr.
Matheson said that it's unclear how often white bison calves are born in the wild.
“We just don’t know how often it happens because we’ve never tracked this in history," he said.
___
AP reporter Amy Beth Hanson in Helena, Montana, contributed to this report. ___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
