Florida Zoo Asks For Help Naming Its New Ultra-Rare Leucistic Alligator And That Will Surely End Well

One of the Orlando area's most famous and alligator-filled attractions, Gatorland, has a new addition in the form of a rare leucistic alligator.

That's fantastic... but, what the hell does leucistic mean?

Well, it's the partial lack of pigmentation. It's similar to an albino, however, an albino anything has a complete lack of pigmentation.

Gatorland revealed its newest addition in a Facebook post on Friday.

That thing is adorable. Just think, in a few years, it could tear your arm off without even thinking twice.

Apparently, leucistic alligators are even more rare than the albino variety. The New York Post reports that there are only 8 of them in the world including this brand-spankin' new one.

It may be harder to hit that leucistic sweet spot than it is to crank the pigmentation all the way up to normal levels or flip that switch all the way off for an albino.

I don't know. I'm not a scientist.

That makes sense though. I remember seeing an albino alligator at my local zoo when I was a kid. It was cool but it's just a regular alligator but white. Neat, but if a nobody like me got to see one at a random Central Pennsylvania zoo, they've got to be a dime a dozen.

Now leucistic gators? Those are special.

Gatorland's Facebook post about its surprisingly photogenic albino gator did make one mistake: they asked the public to help pick a name. The general public is not responsible enough to be tasked with naming things.

Still congrats to the folks at Gatorland on the new baby gator. Just maybe pick your own name unless you're cool with it being named Leucy McGatorface.

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Matt is a University of Central Florida graduate and a long-suffering Philadelphia Flyers fan living in Orlando, Florida. He can usually be heard playing guitar, shoe-horning obscure quotes from The Simpsons into conversations, or giving dissertations to captive audiences on why Iron Maiden is the greatest band of all time.