Although the evolutionary ecology of melanin pigments and melanin-based coloration has been studied in great details, particularly in birds, little is known about the function of melanin stored inside the body. In the barn owl Tyto alba , in which individuals vary in the degree of reddish pheomelanin-based coloration and in the size of black eumelanic feather spots, we measured the concentration in melanin pigments in seven or...

It is believed that while eumelanin plays photoprotective and antioxidant role in pigmented tissues, pheomelanin being more photoreactive could behave as a phototoxic agent. Although the metal ion-sequestering ability of melanin might be protective, transition metal ions present in natural melanins could affect their physicochemical properties. The aim of this research was to study iron binding by pheomelanin and analyze how s...