Recently, I came across some rare animals at one of my favorite web sites, www.oddee.com. These animals were normal except for their coloring. They were the opposite of albinos, they were called melanistic. Melanism is an undue development of dark-colored pigment in the skin or its appendages and is the opposite of albinism. It is also the medical term for black jaundice.
Pseudo-melanism, also called abundism, is another variant of pigmentation, characterized by dark spots or enlarged stripes, which cover a large part of the body of the animal making it appear melanistic. A deficiency in or total absence of melanin pigments is called amelanism.
The morbid deposition of black matter, often of a malignant character, causing pigmented tumors is called melanosis.
Fawn
Photographer R.M.Buquoi shot this picture of a rare black fawn in Austin, Texas
Fox
The Silver Fox is a melanistic form of red fox. Silver foxes display a great deal of pelt variation: some are completely black, save for the white tail tip, while others may be bluish-grey. Wild silver foxes do not reproduce exclusively with members of the same coat morph, and can be littermates with the common red variety.
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| Not that Redd Foxx! |
Serval
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| It's not a chupacabra |
Servals are members of the cat family found in Africa, notable for their very long legs and large ears. Like most felines, servals are prone to melanism but with one difference: the feature is more common in servals living at higher altitudes. It may be that melanism bestows advantages to the mountain-dwelling servals, perhaps relating to heat conservation and camouflage in rockier alpine environments.
