She Is One of Only Eight in the World

An extremely rare white American alligator has been born at a Florida reptile park, and she needs a name. The 19.2-inch female slithered out of its shell and into the history books as one of only a few of its kind, per the AP. "This is beyond rare. It is absolutely extraordinary," said Mark McHugh, president and CEO of Gatorland. Smithsonian reports the alligator has a condition known as leucism, which results in a lack of pigmentation. She is the first leucistic alligator born in captivity and one of just eight known to exist in the world. The park is asking for the public's help in the naming the gator, and you see video of her via Instagram.

The blue-eyed newborn is descended from a nest of leucistic alligators discovered in the swamps of Louisiana in 1987. Of the seven remaining alligators from the nest, three are at Gatorland. Leucistic alligators are the rarest genetic variation in the American alligator. They differ from albino alligators, which have pink eyes and a complete loss of pigment, per the Guardian. Park visitors will be able to see the leucistic alligator and her normal-colored brother early next year.

(More alligator stories.)