
A person suffering from Albinism may have the following symptoms. The absence of melanin production or a very reduced amount of it causes the formation of translucent skin. A defect in one of the genes that produce melanin causes this disorder.
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Some of the most common causes for a hypopigmented or depigmented skin are as follows:Ī rare group of genetic disorders that causes the skin, hair or eyes to have little or no color is known as Albinism. Melanin is the pigment that gives color to human skin, hair and eyes. Translucent skin is caused when there is a lack of melanin in the skin. Translucent skin can appear all over the body but it is more noticeable in areas where the veins are closer to the skin like in the areas of hands, wrists, top of feet, breasts, ribs, shins and face. However, for the majority of people, it can develop over time due to a variety of reasons. Some people are naturally born with translucent or porcelain skin. Translucent skin is a condition in which an increased ability of the skin is observed where light can pass through the skin and otherwise typically hidden features such as veins and tendons get more visible. Sounds dreadful, right? Well then, let us get into more details about it. However, sometimes clear skin can also become a problem which is known as the translucent skin condition where your skin becomes so pale that you can even see your veins through them. “This change in brightness makes the frogs a closer match to their immediate surroundings, which are predominantly made up of green leaves.We all want a skin that is clean and clear and having one is great. “The frogs are always green but appear to brighten and darken depending on the background,” Dr James Barnett, lead author of the study published in PNAS, who began the research while a PhD student at the University of Bristol, UK, and is now based at McMaster University, Canada, said in a statement. This Emerald glass frog changes the luminance of its skin to evade predators. This differs from other mechanisms, such as color-changing, where an animal produces different pigments to match their backgrounds.

However, a new study by an international team of researchers has examined whether glass frogs can still effectively camouflage themselves even with translucent skin.īy applying “predator vision” to over 50 photographs of two species of glass frog: the Emerald glass frog ( Espadarana prosoblepon) from Ecuador and the Santa Cecilia Cochran glass frog ( Teratohyla midas) from French Guiana, the team determined that glass frogs seem to change the brightness of their green skin to match their leafy surroundings.
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Therefore, instead of acting as a window to their surroundings (such as in full transparency), the imperfectly transparent glass frogs maintain their green hue and block background patterning. Yet, despite their name, glass frogs aren’t completely transparent, as sparse green pigments mean that when viewed from above they are actually more translucent.

Found across central and southern America, grape-sized glass frogs are famed for their “see-through” bellies that give us a peek at their insides. One group of terrestrial animals that have a good go at transparency are glass frogs.
