Bald Animals: Insights into Unique Hairless Species

Bald animals captivate interest due to their rare and distinctive appearances. This page delves into the causes, traits, and stories associated with bald animals, exploring their uniqueness within typically haired species. Learn about genetic factors, environmental influences, and intriguing examples across various species. Whether you're curious about the science or the stories behind these animals, our comprehensive insights will fascinate and inform. Explore now and uncover the world of bald animals!

Hypotrichosis is a lack or paucity of hair (a.k.a. being bald or hairless). Toxins, parasites, and other environmental factors can cause it. The cases shown in this hub, however, are mainly congenital, meaning they result from a genetic defect. This article is specifically about hairless individuals from normally-coated breeds, not breeds deliberately selected to be hairless such as the Sphinx cat or nude mouse.

Species

Cat

Cats with fine or curly hair such as the Cornish Rex can be prone to baldness. But hairless kitten are occasionally reported from any breed or mixed-breed cat. In the Burmese it may relate to abnormalities in the thymus. A 1936 report detailed a "cat-dog" called Nonesuch.(http://jhered.oxfordjournals.org/content/28/3/115.extract) This hairless kitten had three haired litter mates, two of which were born with missing or partial tails.

Dogs

Various dog breeds suffer from a form of alopecia that causes variable degrees of hair loss. This is considered a desirable trait in hairless breeds and a disorder in other breeds where it occurs, such as Boxers, Bulldogs, and Airedales. Alopecia is also found in dogs with blue or fawn coats. These coat colors are produced by black or brown genes and another gene called a dilution factor, which produces a paler shade.

Cattle

Six known genetic mutations cause hairlessness in cattle. Hair loss can also occur secondary to disorders such as sweating sickness. For more examples, see HAIRLESS CATTLE.

Horse

A few almost completely hairless horses have been documented, and some become minor celebrities. Such as Blue Bell (1871, below) who was featured on postcards in the Victorian era.

Sheep

Hypotrichosis is particularly rare in sheep but has been reported in the Polled Dorset. It can also occur as a complication of sarcoptic mange (Trioli et al, 2013).

Humans

Various forms of hypotrichosis also occur in humans, including alopecia.

References

Tsioli, V., R. Farmaki, A. Papastefanou, A. D. Galatos, M. Marinou, D. Tontis, V. S. Mavrogianni, D. Doukas, M. N. Saridomichelakis, and G. C. Fthenakis. "A case of bilateral auricular haematoma in a ewe-lamb with sarcoptic mange." _Small Ruminant Research_ 110, no. 2 (2013): 145-149.