1. Melanin coloration is the most common type of colour in animals. Many species use melanin-based black, brown, grey or earth-toned colours as intraspecific signals of quality. 2. Melanin comes in two main forms in vertebrates – eumelanin and phaeomelanin – and these are said to create different colours, with eumelanin giving a darker black, brown or grey appearance and phaeomelanin a lighter ...

Oxidative stress could be a key selective force shaping the expression of colored traits produced by the primary animal pigments in integuments: carotenoids and melanins. However, the impact of oxidative stress on melanic ornaments has only recently been explored, whereas its role in the expression of carotenoid-based traits is not fully understood. An interesting study case is that of those an...

PB cac / accr 31st annual conference, jasper 2005 Abstract Feathers are amongst the most complex epidermal derivatives found in vertebrates. They have complex branched structures, grow from their bases by a unique mechanism, and come in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, structures, and colours. Not only do feathers impart cover, insulation, waterproofing of the body, contribute to flight, tactil...

Melanin is the main pigment in animal coloration and considerable variation in the concentrations of the two melanin forms (pheo- and eumlanin) in pigmented tissues exists among populations and individuals. Melanin-based coloration is receiving increasing attention particularly in socio-sexual communication contexts because the melanocortin system has been hypothesized to provide a mechanistic ...