Leucistic?

[KDesautels08]

Hey Guys,

I was looking into picking up some Murphy Patternless geckos, and I came across some geckos that looked like Murphy Patternless, but they were being sold as "Leucistic" Leopard Gecko...

Are Leucistic leopard geckos the same as Murphy Patternless'?

Thanks

 

[Neon Aurora]

No, they are not the same thing.

Leucism (occasionally spelled leukism) is a general term for the phenotype resulting from defects in pigment cell differentiation and/or migration from the neural crest to skin, hair, or feathers during development. This results in either the entire surface (if all pigment cells fail to develop) or patches of body surface (if only a subset are defective) having a lack of cells capable of making pigment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucism

When pigment cells do not migrate normally, it results in complete lack of pigment or at least regions of complete lack of pigment (piebald). Murphy's patternless is indeed still pigmented.

Especially since patternless are born with clear patterning and pigmentation, they are definitely not leucistic.

 

[JoulesBurn]

If you're interested, you can contact them and ask if they're murphy patternless. Some people list and label Murphy Patternless geckos as 'Leucistic'.

 

[DiAmoroso]

Leusistic is a mislabeling of a Patternless. It was extremely common in the 90s and early 00s. As of yet, there are no known true leusistic leopard geckos.