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Journal of Threatened Taxa Building evidence for conservaton globally www.threatenedtaxa.org ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) Communication Colour aberration in Indian mammals: a review from 1886 to 2017 Anil Mahabal, Radheshyam Murlidhar Sharma, Rajgopal Narsinha Patl & Shrikant Jadhav 26 April 2019 | Vol. 11 | No. 6 | Pages: 13690–13719 DOI: 10.11609/jot.3843.11.6.13690-13719 For Focus, Scope, Aims, Policies, and Guidelines visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/about/editorialPolicies#custom-0 For Artcle Submission Guidelines, visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions For Policies against Scientfc Misconduct, visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/about/editorialPolicies#custom-2 For reprints, contact <[email protected]> The opinions expressed by the authors do not refect the views of the Journal of Threatened Taxa, Wildlife Informaton Liaison Development Society, Zoo Outreach Organizaton, or any of the partners. 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Partner Member Threatened Taxa Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 April 2019 | 11(6): 13690–13719 Colour aberration in Indian mammals: Communication a review from 1886 to 2017 ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) Anil Mahabal 1 , Radheshyam Murlidhar Sharma 2 , Rajgopal Narsinha Patl 3 & ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) Shrikant Jadhav 4 PLATINUM OPEN ACCESS 1 1935, Sadashiv Peth, Pune, Maharashtra 411030, India. 2 E-7 Srusht, New DP Road, Kothrud, Pune, Maharashtra 411038, India. 3 B-55, Woodland Apt, Gandhi Bhavan Road, Kothrud, Pune, Maharashtra 411038, India. 4 Zoological Survey of India, Western Regional Centre, 29 Vidya Nagar, Sector No. 29, PCNT Post, Rawet Road, Akurdi, Pune, Maharashtra 411044, India. 1 [email protected] (corresponding author), 2 [email protected], 3 [email protected], 4 [email protected] Abstract: The phenomena of colour aberraton (albinism, leucism, piebaldism, melanism, hypomelanism, and blue-eyed colour morph) is reported in various mammalian species throughout the world including India. A total of 239 such instances in Indian mammals was tabulated in this study along with maps showing locatons of the records. The records from 1886 to 2017 (tll July) were gathered from published scientfc literature, magazines, and images uploaded on various websites. The records were reviewed along with their order- wise and family-wise representaton and were analyzed. Appropriate identfcaton of colour aberraton was atempted on the basis of any presented evidence. Altogether, 56 (out of 421) mammalian species belonging to eight orders and 19 families were reported to exhibit various types of colour aberratons, amountng to 13.3% of the total mammalian species found in India. Of these, albinos consttuted 21.8%, leucistc 14.2%, piebald 5.4%, melanistc 25.5%, hypomelanistc 18.4%, and blue-eyed white morph 1.3%; the remaining 13.4% was undetermined. The study highlights 1) the absence of records of colour aberratons in the largest mammal family Vespertlionidae, which contrasts with studies elsewhere, 2) the persistent occurrence of albinos in Spoted Deer and Blackbucks in Gujarat, 3) the high number of melanistc leopards in India over the years and recent instances of melanistc Asian Golden Cats in Sikkim, 4) regular records of hypomelanism in Gaurs of the southern Western Ghats except in the last few years. Overall, a need for further studies in colour aberraton in mammals is urged. Keywords: Albinism, blue-eyed colour morph, chromatc disorders, hypomelanism, leucism, mammals, melanism, piebaldism. DOI: htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.3843.11.6.13690-13719 Editor: L.A.K. Singh, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. Date of publicaton: 26 April 2019 (online & print) Manuscript details: #3843 | Received 03 October 2017 | Final received 06 April 2019 | Finally accepted 08 April 2019 Citaton: Mahabal, A., R.M. Sharma, R.N. Patl & S. Jadhav (2019). Colour aberraton in Indian mammals: a review from 1886 to 2017. Journal of Threatened Taxa 11(6): 13690–13719. htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.3843.11.6.13690-13719 Copyright: © Mahabal et al. 2019. Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of this artcle in any medium by adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton. Funding: None. Competng interests: The authors declare no competng interests. For Author details and Marathi abstract, see end of this artcle. Author contributon: AM conceptualised the review. AM, RS, SJ and RP collected the literature, data, compiled and wrote the paper. RP created the fgures and maps. Acknowledgements: The authors are thankful to Dr. Kailash Chandra, Director, and Dr. S. S. Talmale, Scientst, Zoological Survey of India, for their support of this study. We would also like to express our grattude to Dr. Hein van Grouw, Dr. Amit Sayyed, Sanjay Thakur, Ajit Joshi, Sudhir Kulkarni and Dr. S. Sathyakumar for their help in procuring some references and for photos for this study. We duly acknowledge the sources used for generatng maps - Google, Gisrael, ORION-ME and ZENRIN. 13690 Colour aberraton In Indian mammals Mahabal et al. INTRODUCTION identfcaton key to name the colour aberratons in birds. Although identfying colour mutatons in the feld The characteristc skin in mammals is clothed with can be extremely difcult, this key makes it possible to fur or hair and its concealment may be efected by name many mutatons correctly. The mammals await the colour and patern of the coat. The colouraton such imminently usable identfcaton key. in animals is a functon of selectve pressures that Abreu et al. (2013) and Lucat & Lopez-Baucells (2016) can be divided into three categories: concealment, atempted to classify the aberratons for their study of communicaton, and regulaton of physiologic processes bats. We mostly contnued the use of terminology based (Caro 2005). Generally, the coat colour change depends on these literature. The terms used in this study are on the surrounding seasonal climate conditons and also summarised in Table 1 and further details are provided the geographic regions where they are found (Menon below. 2003). Besides this, the age, sex, health, and nutriton Albinism is a hypo-pigmentary disorder with a total play important roles in the looks of an animal. Mammals lack of both melanins in hairs, eyes, and skin due to also show individual coat or pelage diferences even the heritable absence of functonal tyrosinase enzyme within the same race and this is partcularly so in the in pigment cells afectng all skin and hairs, resultng in case of genetc mutatons such as albinism, melanism a total white plumage/fur with red eyes. Albinism is (Menon 2003), and other types of colour aberratons controlled via inheritance by an autosomal recessive such as leucism, piebaldism, hypomelanism, and blue- gene in all animal species (Hale et al. 2005; van Grouw eyed white morph. 2006, 2013). The colour aberratons are variously termed as Leucism is a total lack of pigmentaton in the whole colour variaton (Hofreiter & Schöneberg 2010), body due to an inherited defect in the pigment transfer anomalous colouraton (Abreu et al. 2013), atypical process efectng white or whitsh hair, pale skin, but colouraton (Zalapa et al. 2016), and chromatc disorder normal coloured eyes (van Grouw 2006; Abreu et al. (Lucat & Lopez-Baucells 2016). The phenomenon of 2013; Lucat & Lopez-Baucells 2016). colour aberraton is not uncommon in vertebrate groups Piebaldism is a type of hypopigmentaton in which including birds and mammals. The most common the absence of pigment is localized and is due to an pigment in both birds and mammals is melanin (Fox & absence of melanocytes in the afected skin and hair Vevers 1960) and the pigmentaton process in mammal follicles as a result of genetc mutaton. This is similar to hair is identcal to that in bird feathers (Lubnow 1963; van leucism but difers in that the melanocyte development Grouw 2013). There are two forms of melanin: eumelanin is only locally disrupted. Piebald animals have a variable and phaeomelanin (Lubnow 1963). Depending upon distributon of white spots on the body but have normal the concentraton and distributon within skin and fur, coloured eyes (Lucat & Lopez-Baucells 2016). Although eumelanin is responsible for black, grey, and/or dark not used widely, it seems to be the least confusing term brown colours whereas phaeomelanin is responsible to denote those cases where the colour aberraton for warm, reddish-brown to pale buf colours. Both afects only part of the body. melanins together can give a wide range of greyish- Hypomelanism is another type of hypo-pigmentaton brown colours (Lubnow 1963; van Grouw 2013). The wherein an inherited colour aberraton results in a fawn, development of melanin is the result of a biochemical cream, grey, grey-brown, ashy, whitsh-yellowish, light process called melanin synthesis in melanin-producing golden-brown, or orange to light red individual with cells (melanocytes); the amino acid tyrosine and enzyme insufciently pigmented skin. This is mainly due to tyrosinase are necessary to start this synthesis. Further, mutatons afectng melanin biosynthesis resultng in every disturbance or the heritable cause, i.e., genetc pigment reducton in one or both of the two melanin mutaton, at every stage of melanin synthesis afects the forms leading to various colour morphs (van Grouw concentraton and distributon of melanin resultng in an 2006, 2013; Lucat & Lopez-Baucells 2016; Mahabal et aberrant colour (van Grouw 2013).