Incredibly Rare and Very Tiny Albino Turtle Spotted In India

Reported in the journal Reptiles & Amphibians, this handsome hatchling was spotted by wildlife photographers Manoj Kumar Vittapu and Shravan Kumar Poshetty in August 2021 near a freshwater pond in a forested part of Sirinepally in Nizamabad District, Telangana. 

Despite measuring just 4 centimeters by 3 centimeters, the youngster caught the attention of the pair because of its total lack of pigment. They passed their photos of the turtle on to Buddi Laxmi Narayana, a curator at Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad, who confirmed that it was a rare example of an albino Indian flapshell turtle.

A video of the teeny turtle, accompanied by some lighthearted keyboard music (sound on), can be seen below.

Albinism is a rare genetic mutation that causes the skin, hair, or eyes to have no pigment, not to be confused with leucism, which can cause pale pigmentation. Individuals with the inherited condition contain a recessive gene variant that effectively “switches off” the production of the pigment melanin, the stuff that gives your skin, eyes, and hair its color. The reduced amount of melanin can cause problems with vision too. 

The Indian flapshell turtle (Lissemys punctata) can be found in rivers and lakes in parts of Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. While a few albino flapshell turtles have been reported before, this is the first of its kind in this part of India.

Unfortunately, the turtle’s stand-out appearance is likely to hamper its chances of survival in the wild. Not only could it succumb to health problems, but it will also be easily spotted by predators as it's lacking in camouflage. But hey, very few Indian flapshells can say they’ve been the star of their own scientific publication before.

[H/T New Scientist]