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A variety of diseases and abnormal conditions that involve pigmentation are in humans and animals, either from absence of or loss of pigmentation or pigment cells, or from the excess production of pigment. Albinism is an inherited disorder characterized by total or partial loss of melanin. Humans and animals that suffer from albinism are called ...
Chromatophores are cells that produce color, of which many types are pigment -containing cells, or groups of cells, found in a wide range of animals including amphibians, fish, reptiles, crustaceans and cephalopods. Mammals and birds, in contrast, have a class of cells called melanocytes for coloration. Chromatophores are largely responsible ...
Animals use colour to advertise services such as cleaning to animals of other species; to signal their sexual status to other members of the same species; and in mimicry, taking advantage of the warning coloration of another species. Some animals use flashes of colour to divert attacks by startling predators.
Melanocytes are melanin -producing neural crest -derived [3] cells located in the bottom layer (the stratum basale) of the skin's epidermis, the middle layer of the eye (the uvea), [4] the inner ear, [5] vaginal epithelium, [6] meninges, [7] bones, [8] and heart found in many mammals and birds. [9] Melanin is a dark pigment primarily ...
Micrograph of the epidermis, with melanin labeled at left. Melanin (/ ˈmɛlənɪn / ⓘ; from Ancient Greek μέλας (mélas) 'black, dark') is a family of biomolecules organized as oligomers or polymers, which among other functions provide the pigments of many organisms. [1] Melanin pigments are produced in a specialized group of cells ...
Leucism (/ ˈluːsɪzəm, - kɪz -/) [ 2 ][ 3 ][ 4 ] is a wide variety of conditions that result in partial loss of pigmentation in an animal —causing white, pale, or patchy coloration of the skin, hair, feathers, scales, or cuticles, but not the eyes. [ 4 ] It is occasionally spelled leukism. Some genetic conditions that result in a ...
Melanism. Melanistic black eastern grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) Melanistic guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) are rare, and are used in rituals by Andean curanderos. [1] Melanism is the congenital excess of melanin in an organism resulting in dark pigment. Pseudomelanism, also called abundism, is another variant of pigmentation, identifiable ...
Keratin. Keratin (/ ˈkɛrətɪn / [1][2]) is one of a family of structural fibrous proteins also known as scleroproteins. Alpha-keratin (α-keratin) is a type of keratin found in vertebrates. It is the key structural material making up scales, hair, nails, feathers, horns, claws, hooves, and the outer layer of skin among vertebrates.