Famous albino mammals
Famous albino mammals include Migaloo, a humpback whale living off the coast of Australia; Pinky, a bottlenose dolphin living in and around in Calcasieu Lake, Louisiana; Carolina Snowball, a popular albino bottlenose dolphin displayed at the Miami Seaquarium in the early 1960s; Snowflake, a Barcelona Zoo gorilla, and Mahpiya Ska, (Sioux for White Cloud), a buffalo in Jamestown, North Dakota, and inspiration for Herman Melvilles novel Moby-Dick, a sperm whale known as Mocha Dick. In birds
The most important pigments that determine plumage colouration in birds are melanines and carotenoids. The latter are ingested in food and transformed into colour pigments by enzymes. Aberrations in this pigmentation are mostly caused by food deficiencies and usually do not have a genetic basis. Well-known examples are flamingos, which owe their distinct pink colour to the presence of red carotenoids in their natural food. When these carotenoids are in short supply, these birds appear white after the next moult. Mutations causing changes in carotenoid-based colour pigments are rare; melanine mutations occur much more frequently. Two types of melanin, eumelanin and phaeomelanin, are present in birds. In the skin and eyes, only eumelanin is present. In some bird species, the colour is completely caused by eumelanin, however, both types of melanin are found in most species. In birds, albinism has been defined as "a total lack of both melanins in feathers, eyes and skin as a result of an inherited absence of tyrosinase", however, this ignores the effects of other pigments and structural colours.
Toxicology also manifests in the autonomic nervous system, primarily at the neuromuscular junction, resulting in ataxia and extrapyramidal side effects and the feeling of heaviness in the legs, and at sympathetic post-ganglionic junctions, causing urinary retention, pupil dilation, tachycardia, irregular urination, and dry red skin caused by decreased exocrine gland secretions, and mucous membranes. Considerable overdosage can lead to myocardial infarction (heart attack), serious ventricular arrhythmias, coma, and death. Such a side effect profile is thought to give ethanolamine-class antihistamines a relatively low abuse liability. An antidote that can be used for dimenhydrinate poisoning is physostigmine. Brand names
Dimenhydrinate is marketed under many brand names: in the US, Mexico, Turkey and Serbia as Dramamine; in Ukraine as Driminate; in Canada, Costa Rica, and India as Gravol; in Iceland as Gravamin; in Russia and Croatia as Dramina; in South Africa and Germany as Vomex; in Australia and Austria as Vertirosan; in Brazil as Dramin; in Colombia as Mareol; in Ecuador as Anautin; in Hungary as Daedalon; in Indonesia as Antimo; in Italy as Xamamina or Valontan; in Peru as Gravicoll; in Poland and Slovakia as Aviomarin; in Portugal as Viabom, Vomidrine, and Enjomin; in Spain as Biodramina; in Thailand as Daimenin; in Israel as Travamin; in Pakistan as Gravinate; and in Ethiopia as dimenhydrinate. Popular culture
Modest Mouse produced a song titled "Dramamine" on their 1996 debut album This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About. The song uses side effects of the drug as a metaphor for the deteriorating state of a personal relationship.