From leopards to zebras, many of the animal kingdom’s most striking creatures have incredible stripes and spots.
But what if they disappeared completely?
Last month, a spotless baby giraffe was born at a Tennessee zoo, making it the only known giraffe without its iconic patterns.
As it turns out, there are countless rare examples of this occurring in nature – be it in stripeless tigers or all-white pandas.
So take a look, as MailOnline sheds light on why many of these curious species exist.
1. Albino panda
In 2019, local officials spotted what is believed to be the first all-white panda roaming the forest in China’s Wolong National Nature Reserve.
Since the female has no spots on her body and has distinctive red eyes, she is believed to have albinism – an incredibly rare condition caused by mutations in the genes involved in melanin production.
Melanin is a polymer that determines skin, hair and eye color in both animals and humans.
“Albinism refers to a group of inherited disorders characterized by little or no production of the pigment melanin, which determines the color of our skin, eyes and hair,” Alex Cagan, a genetic scientist at the Sanger Institute in Cambridgeshire, told MailOnline .
The inheritance pattern of albinism is usually autosomal recessive. This means that an individual must inherit two copies of the mutated gene (one from each parent) in order to express the condition.
“While parents who carry only one copy of the mutation are called carriers and usually show no signs of albinism themselves.”
This panda is believed to have albinism – an incredibly rare condition often caused by mutations in many genes involved in melanin production
The albino panda was first seen in Wolong National Nature Reserve in 2019
2. Spotless Giraffe
In July, an immaculate baby giraffe was born at the Brights Zoo in Limestone, Tennessee.
Unlike the panda, this calf’s coat is completely brown, suggesting it doesn’t have the same rare condition of albinism.
Instead, Cagan suspects that the giraffe has an even more unusual mutation that changes the way color pigments are distributed throughout its body.
This is a kind of “reaction-diffusion process” previously theorized by Alan Turing – the mathematician who famously broke the enigma machine in World War II.
“These cases are probably rare because they depend either on a new dominant mutation occurring in a specific part of the genome that changes pigmentation patterns, or on two giraffes both carrying the same recessive variant that causes these patterns to have offspring together.” Cagan continued.
However, it is also thought that a brown giraffe would be at a disadvantage in the wild, which may be another reason why this is a first.
Believe it or not, a giraffe’s spots can actually help regulate temperature while serving as a form of protection.
“Giraffe spots are believed to be a form of camouflage to avoid being seen by predators, and are linked to an intricate network of blood vessels below the surface that help them regulate their temperature,” Cagan said.
‘So the places are not only beautiful to look at, but can also fulfill important functions to help giraffes survive in their natural habitat.
‘In the wild, giraffes without spots can therefore be at a disadvantage. But in a zoo setting, they’re probably fine unless the mutation has additional health-impacting effects, but as far as I’m aware there’s currently no evidence that this is likely to be the case.’
This unnamed baby giraffe was born July 31 at Tennessee’s Brights Zoo with no spots, making it the only known living brown spotless giraffe
3. Stripeless Tiger
Fareeda, a stripeless Bengal cub, was the first all-white tiger to be born in Africa in 2008 at South Africa’s Cango Wildlife Ranch.
She was born in a litter of three to the parents of two striped white tigers who carried a rare gene.
The odds of this happening would be only 100 to one, and Fareeda would be just one of twenty white stripeless tigers in the world.
Despite this, the caretakers made it clear that Fareeda did not have albinism because of her trademark blue eyes.
Instead, they explained that stripeless white tigers used to live extensively in northern India before eventually becoming extinct.
Fareeda – a stripeless Bengal cub – was the first all-white tiger to be born in Africa in 2008 at South Africa’s Cango Wildlife Ranch
4. The Orca ‘White Death’
Nicknamed “Iceberg” and the “White Death,” an albino killer whale was photographed by scientists in 2012 for a historic first.
The whale hunted in a ‘pod’ of twelve ‘normal’ killer whales and, despite its unique appearance, seemed to be welcome.
“In many ways, the iceberg is a symbol of everything that’s pure, wild, and extremely exciting about what’s out there in the ocean waiting to be discovered,” project director Erich Hoyt said at the time.
‘The challenge is to keep the ocean healthy so that such surprises are always possible.’
Mr Cagan also explained that albinism is often more common in endangered or captive animals whose individuals are closely related.
‘South Resident Orcas’ – which live off the coast of California and Washington – are currently considered endangered in the US.
According to the Commission on Marine Mammalsof those, only 74 remained in 2021.
But Iceberg was spotted near the Russian Commander Islands, and the exact number of killer whales here is currently unknown.
“The appearance of these generally recessive variants may be more common in populations where individuals are closely related, such as endangered animal populations or captive animals,” Cagan said.
Nicknamed ‘Iceberg’ and the ‘White Death,’ an albino orca was photographed by scientists in a historic first in 2012