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Why do some corn morphs have wierd names that don’t make any sense?
Here’s a quick explanation that should make sense of the names you’ll hear for color mutations in cornsnakes.
Since cornsnakes have 3 pigments, there are a good variety of resulting colors in the cornsnake palette. When you mix the pigments, you get all kinds of colors like dark tan, copper, orange, etc. The base colors are:
Black - created by the pigment Melanin. This is the same pigment we have in our skin, and what darkens when we tan.
Red - Created by the pigment Erythrin.
Yellow - Created by the pigment Xanthin. (sp?)
Ok, but what’s all this talk about A-something or Hypo-something? It’s all Greek to me! Funny you should mention that, because these prefixes have their roots in Greek! :)
a- and an- are prefixes similar to anti-, meaning not or without. Like atypical or asexual.
hypo- is a prefix meaning less of or reduced. A hypodermic needle is pretty small, and goes under the skin.
hyper- is the opposite of hypo. A hyperactive kid is way more active than normal...
Now that you know that, I bet you can guess what’s special about an Anerythristic cornsnake, or a hypomelanistic corn.
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