Melanism

Melanism is an increased amount of black or nearly black pigmentation(as of skin, feathers, or hair) of an individual or kind of organism. More technically, it refers to a phenotypein which the pigmentation of an organism is entirely, or nearly entirely, expressed. A synonym for this condition used in the context of human disease is melanosis. Abundism is an increase in dark pigmentation in patterned coats or skins which causes an increase in the number or size of pigmented spots, stripes or other patch types. Abundism which is sufficiently extreme to appear like melanism, such as when the stripes of a striped animal increase in width sufficiently to overlap, is known as pseudo-melanism. Melanism and abundism are often the result of genetic mutation, but can result from other stimuli, such as exposure to abnormal temperature changes during gestation which transiently alter gene transcriptionor translation. Melanism or abundism triggered by human modification of the environment is known as industrial melanism; the history of this phenomenon in the peppered mothin the United Kingdom is a classic instructional tool for teaching the principles of natural selection.

Melanism has been shown to occur in a variety of animals, including mammals (squirrels, many felines); reptiles (coral snakes); and insects (peppered moth).

Many examples of melanism are known among felines. Leopards, pumasand jaguarswith this condition are often called panthers or black panthers. However, leopards, jaguars, lions and tigers are all members of the Pantheragenus. One good example of melanism expressed within a certain animal community is that of the leopard population in Malaysia, South East Asia, in which case up to 50% of the population has melanism. That is one reason why black panthers are so commonly sighted in those rainforests, besides the fact that they do not blend in as well in the colours of the rainforest.

Further reading

• David Attenborough. (2002). "The Life of Mammals[TV-Series and book]." United Kingdom:BBC..
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See also

• Albinism, the opposite of melanism, the absence of pigmentation

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanism Wikipedia article Melanism.