title: Melanin chemistry and the ecology of stress.
abstract: Knowledge of melanin chemistry has important implications for the study of the evolutionary ecology of animal pigmentation, but the actual chemical diversity of these widely expressed biological pigments has been largely overlooked. Considering all melanin forms and the different conditions of endogenous oxidative stress during their synthesis provides information about physiological costs and benefits of different pigmentation patterns and opens a new perspective to understanding the evolution of color phenotypes in animals.
authors: Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Estación Biológica de Doñana-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, c/ Américo Vespucio s/n, 41092 Sevilla, Spain; 2Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular B e Inmunología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain.
authors: Ismael
authors: I
authors: Galván
authors: Francisco
authors: F
authors: Solano
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003116:Color; D004777:Environment; D008543:Melanins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D010641:Phenotype; D010858:Pigmentation; D010860:Pigments, Biological / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D008543:Melanins; D010860:Pigments, Biological