This may be due to melanism, a kind of genetic mutation that causes unique darker colorations in animals due to excess production of melanin. Melanism is common in species of cat, with around a ...

Melanism, a common phenomenon in the animal kingdom, is an increased amount of black (or nearly black) pigmentation in an individual. While often seen in terrestrial animals, melanism is rare in ...

The animal is melanistic—its genes carry a mutation that creates more dark pigment than light pigment, according to Eduardo Eizirik, a biologist and cat-melanism expert at Pontifical Catholic ...

The persistence of melanism among wild felids suggests it ... Learn how you can help save these animals. Photograph by John Eastcott and Yva Momatiuk There’s no clear answer, but the research ...

Melanism is a rare condition that can make for some interesting-looking animals. It's caused by an over-development of melanin in the skin and can turn animals completely or partially black.

He speculates that the dark color might put the animal at a distinct disadvantage when hunting hares during winter. More information: Thomas S. Jung, Paint it black: first record of melanism in ...

genetic mutations can also go the other way and lead to an excess of the pigment – this is known as melanism. It’s rarer than albinism and leucism across the animal world (which makes these ...

While millions of whitetails have been harvested across the continent in modern times, only a token number of cases of melanism have ... and a dark-colored prey animal would have an edge in ...

He said the animal comes around his farm at least once ... Police The Greensboro Science Center says that black pigment or melanism can occur in many mammals and some have a higher frequency ...

Q: Have any modern animals adapted to human activity through ... As pollution levels declined due to regulation, the melanism in these creatures reversed. —Floyd Shockley, entomologist, National ...

Melanin production in animals has been associated to a number of advantages ... and is known as “thermal melanism”. The thermal melanism hypothesis is associated in particular to organisms with a ...