House of MurrPurr

fuckyeahoberlin:

A fish at the Big Parade!

(photo by hockeyvoice2000)

Q. There are an incredible number of white squirrels living here in Pensacola, Fla., on the Gulf Coast. Are they albinos? How would it be genetically possible to have so many in one community?

A. Significant sightings of white or albino squirrels have been reported in many areas of North America. A mapping project lists them in Charlotte, N.C.; Kenton, Tenn.; Marionville, Mo.; the Northern Keys of Florida; Olney, Ill.; Exeter, Ontario; and Brevard, N.C., where the White Squirrel Research Institute has been established to study and publicize the local population of white examples of the Eastern gray squirrel, or Sciurus carolinensi.

Only a few white squirrels are albinos, recognizable by pink or blue eyes and the absence of pigmentation anywhere on the body. The gene for such an absence of the pigment, melanin, is recessive, so each parent must carry it to produce an albino squirrel. Albino squirrels have vision problems and are at a disadvantage in the wild.

Most so-called white squirrels in North America are genetic color variants of the gray species, not unlike the fairly common black squirrel…

amamblog:

Our Tuesday Tea speaker this afternoon at 2:30pm is Classics Professor Kirk Ormand. Today, he will be speaking on “The Finding of Erichthonius” painting in the AMAM collection by Peter Paul Rubens.

Here, Ormand discusses the mythological story of the “Rape of Persephone,” to go along with the painting on the same theme by Adolph Gottlieb (also in the AMAM collection).