Eumelanin- and pheomelanin-based colour advertise resistance to oxidative stress in opposite ways.

Abstract excerpt

The control mechanisms and information content of melanin-based colourations are still debated among evolutionary biologists. Recent hypotheses contend that molecules involved in melanogenesis alter other physiological processes, thereby generating covariation between melanin-based colouration and other phenotypic attributes. Interestingly, several molecules such as agouti and glutathione that trigger the...

Topics

• Animal Communication
• Animals
• Color
• Feathers
• Genotype
• Melanins
• Oxidative Stress
• Strigiformes