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Sunlight could Kill an Albino Alligator! Do You believe it?

msnbc.msn.com — In an exhibit made to look like the Louisiana bayou with tree stumps and hanging moss, the 12-year-old American alligator spent one recent afternoon basking under a heat lamp beside a warm pool with one claw lazily dipped in the water. If outside, her skin would burn in the sun

Who dugg this? Made popular May 13, 2007

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  • praisethelard, on 06/06/2008, -1/+40Albinos sensitive to sun?

    Who would've thunk...
  • Ocelot13, on 10/11/2007, -0/+20Sunlight can also kill level 60 dungeon masters, can you believe that?
  • chingy1788, on 10/11/2007, -1/+21Guess what else can be killed by sunlight?
    Humans
  • AhrenBa, on 10/11/2007, -0/+18Well, let's see, since Albinos are defined as having a lack of skin pigment (melanin), and the pigment is what protects the skin from harmful radiation, burns, and exposure, I think it is completely likely! ;)
  • theOster, on 10/11/2007, -1/+16VAM-PIRES!
  • Artifez, on 10/11/2007, -1/+14They actually secrete a red fluid that acts as sunscreen, that's why they appear pinkish.

    http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20040529/fob5.asp
  • Wonderkind, on 10/11/2007, -1/+13The same is true for hippos.
    I was amazed to learn that hippos easily get sunburned.
    If they don't stay in the water or covered with mud, they're toast.
  • corrupt1, on 10/11/2007, -0/+12What is this? "Well Duh" day on digg?
    Sharpton is a race baiter.
    Men like to look at women.
    What's next Mom bakes apple pie?
  • ruley, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11dungeon masters dont have levels. dork
  • sipsyrup, on 10/11/2007, -3/+14mmmm.... hippo toast...
  • inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11Yah so? They didn't tell you this at school? Albinism is not having a pigment that protects you from UV. UV is evil *****, especially UV-b
  • daven1986, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10i agree inbred

    may i be the first to say "well duh" to the title.
  • zweben, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9You and your bananas.
  • Seifey, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8you're*
  • guywhodoesstuff, on 10/11/2007, -4/+11Wow, even the alligators in Tennessee participate in incest.
  • inactive, on 10/11/2007, -2/+9Theres also a majority of digg users who can be killed by sunlight
  • trogdor282, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5I thought the noodles protected them... http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/content/content.php?id=251178&name=251178_Hippo.swf&title=Noodles%20on%20my%20Back&date=1179028800&quality=b&uj=0&w=550&h=400
  • Hermitwise, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6I TOLD YOU THAT VAMPIRE ALLIGATORS WERE REAL! ...you fools.
  • obrysii, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5lol! dungeon masters don't have levels!
  • Angostura, on 10/11/2007, -2/+6Yes.

    Next.
  • lukee, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I find that hard to believe. They can't know that sunlight hurts them if they've never actually been out in it.
  • Peach, on 10/11/2007, -3/+5Would make a nice purse. Maybe a pair of shoes...
  • slaystench, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2How did this make the front page?
  • jmoh, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Im pointing out the clear grammer mistake, apparently, you didn't catch it it it.
  • thesixthdesign, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Yeah.
    That's why white people are more susceptible to skin cancer than black people.
    Why wouldn't you believe it?
  • mgrucker, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Does this part make any sense to anybody else?

    "Three leucistic gators were found in 2003 on Hilton Head Island, S.C., and later seized by state officials, who also arrested the men who discovered them."

    The article just kind of throws that in with no background info. Why were they arrested for "discovering" them?
  • zurp, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1In other news, rat poison kills rats.
  • toppgun, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2not if your Blade
  • ewc80, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Do I believe it? Albinos are sensitive to the sun regardless of the species. Probably why you don't see a whole hell of a lot of them. Why wouldn't you believe it?
  • GiggleStick, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Then how do they take a picture of it?
  • Hermitwise, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1you're thinking of mirrors?
  • logicbus, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2RTFA. Specifically, read the paragraph immediately before the one you copied and pasted:

    "The Knoxville Zoo exhibited a different albino alligator named Lily in 1997. The current alligator's name was decided by a contest and will be announced Monday."
  • kidcoconut, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Krikey!
  • nomadxx7, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1FTA: "which has about 30 animals that have been acquired over the last 15 years from a commercial farmer in Cut Off, La.

    The albinos are found in the same nest every year and are believed to be produced from the same male and female who both carry the recessive gene for albinism, said David Kledzik, curator of reptiles in St. Augustine.

    The Florida park made a deal with the farmer to get the albinos. He hatches and raises them until he is ready to give them up, he said."

    I love how this one guy has been stealing the alligator eggs from this one pair of alligators for 15 years. Make you wonder what the alligators think when they keep coming back to find their eggs missing.
  • jmoh, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2"The public likes them a whole lot," Colclough said. "I've been here 12 years, and hardly a week goes by that someone doesn't ask where the white alligator is that was here 10 years ago."

    Huh?
  • vagrantwade, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0See this is why I come to digg. I originally planned to sit out in the sun for 8 straight hours without any SPF but then I read this article.

    But seriously, worst digg title of the week.
  • UtahApocalyse, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0They have a one of the "leucistic" alligators here at the hogle zoo. These are much more rare then the albino's. I am hoping to get to see it this week.
  • JJRamone, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0 50% Vampirism, 20% Sun Damage
  • CarGuy, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0I've seen that 'gator before. I'm from st augustine where it's being loaned out. They didn't mention how it could walk on its hind legs and do cartwheels, however.
  • nemobushido, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0i dont understand why it would be so incredulous for a reptile to have a skin condition.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeroderma_pigmentosum

    the disease has been known to occur in humans, so my guess is that any animal that can have albino variants also has the chance of XP mutation as well. this should take care of any useless "sunlight could kill an __insert animal here__! Do you believe it?" digg stories from here on out.
  • OYAHHH, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0@chingy1788

    Sad,

    But true, yes sunlight, or any light at all can kill a human with Erythriopoetic Porpheria (exact spelling???).

    I have a friend with EP who has lived in her Mom's basement for 5 years now in the dark because her condition has been so bad.
  • lakush, on 10/11/2007, -3/+2Ugly-ass
  • spudfrog, on 10/11/2007, -2/+0The aquarium in New Orleans has a white alligator. But ours isn't albino, his eyes are blue. Dunno why some dumb albino makes the front page.
  • fishpicker, on 10/11/2007, -3/+0only if they travel without an Amulet of Shadows
  • TalkingBanana, on 10/11/2007, -10/+0That animal is weirder then a Talking Banana!

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