View allAll Photos Tagged pigmentation
L'érythrisme est une anomalie de pigmentation qui provoque , dans ce cas , une production excessive de pigments rouges . Les individus concernés ne vivent pas longtemps car les prédateurs ont tôt fait de les localiser dans la végétation verte ...
Erythema is an abnormality of pigmentation that causes , in this case , excessive production of red pigments. The individuals concerned do not live long because predators quickly locate them in the green vegetation ...
In morphology the masked palm civet resembles other civets. Unlike most civets though, its orange-brown to gray fur completely lacks spots, stripes, and other patterns besides a mask.
That mask consists of a prominent white stripe stretching from nose to forehead (sometimes extends farther but has greatly reduced thickness) that halves a black mask that extends laterally to the far edges of the cheeks and caudally up the forehead, past the ears, and down the back of the neck before stopping just under the shoulder blades. The eyes are surrounded by white fur that can vary from faint, incomplete outlines to well-defined blotches. The lips, chin, and throat are white. In some, white stripes of fur, comparable to sideburns on humans due to shape and location, curve up from the throat. These curves vary in thickness and have ends that terminate either in small blotches at the ear base or large blotches that surround the base of both darkly furred ears.
No matter which coat it sports, masked palm civet's feet are always dark, often black, and the melanism usually extends partway up the legs in varying distances and intensities depending on the individual. The end of a masked palm civet's tail is sometimes darker than the majority of its coat. This difference in pigmentation can vary from a few shades darker than its coat to solid black and can cover a fourth to half of the tail.
The main body varies from 51 to 76 cm (20 to 28 in) in length, to which is added a tail of 51 to 63 cm (20 to 25 in). It weighs between 3.6 and 6 kg (8 and 13.2 lb).
Cliffside Lane, The Ridge, Fair Oaks / Sacramento County, California
This skipper appears to have lost some of its pigmentation, a process called leucism, which I've never seen in butterflies before.
Update on this skipper image. I posted this same image in Only Butterflies! on Facebook and Brian Orion, a member of the group feels that this is a faded Eufala Skipper and now that I re-looked at the image I have to agree as there are several markings on the ventral forewing that matches the Eufala Skipper.
A first for me as I'd never seen a jackdaw, or any other bird for that matter, with a partial loss of pigmentation in its feathers.
Excerpt from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axolotl:
The axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) is a paedomorphic salamander closely related to the tiger salamander. It is unusual among amphibians in that it reaches adulthood without undergoing metamorphosis. Instead of taking to the land, adults remain aquatic and gilled. The species was originally found in several lakes underlying what is now Mexico City, such as Lake Xochimilco and Lake Chalco. These lakes were drained by Spanish settlers after the conquest of the Aztec Empire, leading to the destruction of much of the axolotl's natural habitat.
A sexually mature adult axolotl, at age 18–27 months, ranges in length from 15 to 45 cm (6 to 18 in), although a size close to 23 cm (9 in) is most common and greater than 30 cm (12 in) is rare. Axolotls possess features typical of salamander larvae, including external gills and a caudal fin extending from behind the head to the vent. External gills are usually lost when salamander species mature into adulthood, although the axolotl maintains this feature.[15] This is due to their neoteny evolution, where axolotls are much more aquatic than other salamander species.
Their heads are wide, and their eyes are lidless. Their limbs are underdeveloped and possess long, thin digits. Males are identified by their swollen cloacae lined with papillae, while females are noticeable for their wider bodies full of eggs. Three pairs of external gill stalks (rami) originate behind their heads and are used to move oxygenated water. The external gill rami are lined with filaments (fimbriae) to increase surface area for gas exchange. Four-gill slits lined with gill rakers are hidden underneath the external gills, which prevent food from entering and allow particles to filter through.
Axolotls have barely visible vestigial teeth, which develop during metamorphosis. The primary method of feeding is by suction, during which their rakers interlock to close the gill slits. External gills are used for respiration, although buccal pumping (gulping air from the surface) may also be used to provide oxygen to their lungs.[15] Buccal pumping can occur in a two-stroke manner that pumps air from the mouth to the lungs, and with four-stroke that reverses this pathway with compression forces.
Axolotls exhibit diverse color variations driven by mutations in their pigmentation genes. These genes play a crucial role in determining the coloration of these unique creatures.
A Black Barn Owl or Melanistic Barn Owl belong to the same species as the Tyto Alba family.
An increased amount of black or nearly black pigmentation of an organism, resulting from the presence of melanin.
Melanistic is the opposite to an albino.
It was chilly. Our Pair of Ducks was resting after foraging and in order to preserve body heat and relieve neck muscles they'd tucked feather-naked yellow bills under their warm-feathered wings. Sleeping they keep one eye open to warn them in case I'd come too close for comfort. The coloring of green head and blue wing patches (called 'specula' in ornithological parlance) is beautiful. That coloring is not caused by pigmentation. Pigments 'color' by absorbing light. But the green and blue of our Mallard are produced by special nanostructures in those feathers that reflect special wavelengths of light.
a man with severe
Neurofibromatosis aka VR disease
sauntering to and fro
in the
BIMAN BANDAR raliway station.
Neurofibromatosis 1 also called von Recklinghausen's disease, is a genetic disorder characterized by the development of multiple noncancerous (benign) tumors of nerves and skin (neurofibromas) and areas of abnormal skin color (pigmentation).
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“There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.”
― Mahatma Gandhi
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Biman Bandar station
in
North Dhaka
Photography’s new conscience
The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus Megaptera. Adults range in length from 14–17 m (46–56 ft) and weigh up to 40 metric tons (44 short tons). The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with long pectoral fins and tubercles on its head. It is known for breaching and other distinctive surface behaviors, making it popular with whale watchers. Males produce a complex song typically lasting 4 to 33 minutes.
Found in oceans and seas around the world, humpback whales typically migrate up to 16,000 km (9,900 mi) each year. They feed in polar waters and migrate to tropical or subtropical waters to breed and give birth. Their diet consists mostly of krill and small fish, and they use bubbles to catch prey. They are promiscuous breeders, with both sexes having multiple partners. Orcas are the main natural predators of humpback whales.
Like other large whales, the humpback was a target for the whaling industry. Humans once hunted the species to the brink of extinction; its population fell to around 5,000 by the 1960s. Numbers have partially recovered to some 135,000 animals worldwide, while entanglement in fishing gear, collisions with ships, and noise pollution continue to affectThe adult humpback whale is generally 14–15 m (46–49 ft), though longer lengths of 16–17 m (52–56 ft) have been recorded. Females are usually 1–1.5 m (3 ft 3 in – 4 ft 11 in) longer than males. The species can reach body masses of 40 metric tons (44 short tons). Calves are born at around 4.3 m (14 ft) long with a weight of 680 kg (1,500 lb).
The body is bulky with a thin rostrum and proportionally long flippers, each around one-third of its body length. It has a short dorsal fin that varies from nearly non-existent to somewhat long and curved. As a rorqual, the humpback has grooves between the tip of the lower jaw and the navel. They are relatively few in number in this species, ranging from 14–35. The mouth is lined with baleen plates, which number 270-400 for both sides.
The dorsal or upper-side of the animal is generally black; the ventral or underside has various levels of black and white coloration. Whales in the southern hemisphere tend to have more white pigmentation. The flippers can vary from all-white to white only on the undersurface. The varying color patterns and scars on the tail flukes distinguish individual animals. The end of the genital slit of the female is marked by a round feature, known as the hemispherical lobe, which visually distinguishes males and females.
Unique among large whales, humpbacks have bumps or tubercles on the head and front edge of the flippers; the tail fluke has a jagged trailing edge. The tubercles on the head are 5–10 cm (2.0–3.9 in) thick at the base and poke up to 6.5 cm (2.6 in). They are mostly hollow in the center, often containing at least one fragile hair that erupts 1–3 cm (0.39–1.18 in) from the skin and is 0.1 mm (0.0039 in) thick. The tubercles develop early in the womb and may have a sensory function as they are rich in nerves. the species. R_41440
Leucism is a condition in which there is partial loss of pigmentation resulting in white, pale, or patchy coloration of the feathers but not the eyes.
Leucism in birds causes partial loss of pigmentation, giving pale,patchy or white colouration of feathers.
White Tiger Beauty. Fort Worth Zoo, Fort Worth, TX.
The white tiger or bleached tiger is a leucistic pigmentation variant of the Bengal tiger, Siberian tiger and hybrids between the two. It is reported in the wild from time to time in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, in the Sunderbans region and especially in the former State of Rewa.[1] It has the typical black stripes of a tiger, but carries a white or near-white coat.
Thank you all for your views, faves and comments!
The Brewster and the Lawrence warblers are hybrids between the blue winged and the golden winged which, other than pigmentation, are highly similar and can produce fertile offspring. The Brewster looks and sounds like a golden winged but with a masking of a blue Winged (this one is one generation back cross to the golden winged).
This bird was busy chasing away other warblers but found time to snack
I'm presuming it is anyway as it has five subsegments on ant 4... Though it has rather long 1st and 5th subsegments. Another collembolan from Snook's Covert, my local woods, here in Somerset. All Arrhopolites have reduced pigmentation and ocelli, (with only one ocelots each side of the head (an example of auto correct... should read ocellus!) in the concentrated patch of orange red). They're built for darkness, so don't need eyes or colour...
Still finding N. minutus every now and again, though I haven't improved on the photo resolution yet.
There aren't any Arrhopolites species in the UK that are exclusively cave dwelling, though they love it, obviously... So you can often find them, along with Neelus murinus, on the underside of deeply buried logs, the nearest thing to a cave.
Ever since seeing that photo of the black Gorse shieldbug (www.flickr.com/photos/leonvdn/17124441182) , I've been on the look-out.... (you never know!). This is by far the darkest one I've found yet with a lot more black pigmentation than others in their autumn attire (as below in comments - viewable large).
Lyth Hill - Shropshire
This little jumper is a female based on the pigmentation in her front legs according to BugGuide.net.
This would appear very similar to a specimen I found back in November, FransJanssens@www.collembola.org added this explanation about this dark colour form." In 1930, Jan Stach, called specimens from Spain with such broad cross bars meridionalis. In fact he described 4 types. Your specimen matches with type 2: the bars touch the lateral pigmentation."
The adult humpback whale is generally 14–15 m (46–49 ft) long, though individuals up to 16–17 m (52–56 ft) long have been recorded. Females are usually 1–1.5 m (3 ft 3 in – 4 ft 11 in) longer than males.
The species can reach body masses of 40 metric tons (44 short tons). Calves are born at around 4.3 m (14 ft) long with a mass of 680 kg (1,500 lb)] The species has a bulky body with a thin rostrum and proportionally long flippers, each around one-third of its body length. It has a short dorsal fin that varies from nearly nonexistent to somewhat long and curved.
Like other rorquals, the humpback has grooves between the tip of the lower jaw and the navel. The grooves are relatively few in number in this species, ranging from 14 to 35. The upper jaw is lined with baleen plates, which number 540–800 in total and are black in color.
The dorsal or upper side of the animal is generally black; the ventral or underside has various levels of black and white coloration. Whales in the southern hemisphere tend to have more white pigmentation. The flippers can vary from all-white to white only on the undersurface. Some individuals may be all white, notably Migaloo who is a true albino. The varying color patterns and scars on the tail flukes distinguish individual animals.[
The end of the genital slit of the female is marked by a round feature, known as the hemispherical lobe, which visually distinguishes males and females.
Unique among large whales, humpbacks have bumps or tubercles on the head and front edge of the flippers; the tail fluke has a jagged trailing edge. The tubercles on the head are 5–10 cm (2.0–3.9 in) thick at the base and protrude up to 6.5 cm (2.6 in).
They are mostly hollow in the center, often containing at least one fragile hair that erupts 1–3 cm (0.39–1.18 in) from the skin and is 0.1 mm (0.0039 in) thick. The tubercles develop early in gestation and may have a sensory function, as they are rich in nerves. Sensory nerve cells in the skin are adapted to withstand the high water pressure of diving.
In one study, a humpback whale brain measured 22.4 cm (8.8 in) long and 18 cm (7.1 in) wide at the tips of the temporal lobes, and weighed around 4.6 kg (10 lb). The humpback's brain has a complexity similar to that of the brains of smaller whales and dolphins.
The structure of the eye indicates that eyesight is relatively poor, being only able to see silhouettes over long distances and finer details relatively close. Computer models of the middle ear suggest that the humpback can hear at frequencies between 15 Hz and 3 kHz "when stimulated at the tympanic membrane", and between 200 Hz and 9 kHz "if stimulated at the thinner region of the tympanic bone adjacent to the tympanic membrane". These ranges are consistent with their vocalization ranges.
As in all cetaceans, the respiratory tract of the humpback whale is connected to the blowholes and not to the mouth, although the species appears to be able to unlock the epiglottis and larynx and move them towards the oral cavity, allowing humpbacks to blow bubbles from their mouths. The vocal folds of the humpback are more horizontally positioned than those of land mammals which allows them to produce underwater calls. These calls are amplified by a laryngeal sac.
This image was taken at Isafjordur, Iceland
The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus Megaptera.
The adult humpback whale is generally 14–15 m (46–49 ft), though longer lengths of 16–17 m (52–56 ft) have been recorded. Females are usually 1–1.5 m (3 ft 3 in – 4 ft 11 in) longer than males.
The species can reach body masses of 40 metric tons (44 short tons). Calves are born at around 4.3 m (14 ft) long with a weight of 680 kg (1,500 lb).
The body is bulky with a thin rostrum and proportionally long flippers, each around one-third of its body length.[15][16] It has a short dorsal fin that varies from nearly non-existent to somewhat long and curved.
As a rorqual, the humpback has grooves between the tip of the lower jaw and the navel. They are relatively few in number in this species, ranging from 14–35. The mouth is lined with baleen plates, which number 270-400 for both sides.
Unique among large whales, humpbacks have bumps or tubercles on the head and front edge of the flippers; the tail fluke has a jagged trailing edge.
The tubercles on the head are 5–10 cm (2.0–3.9 in) thick at the base and poke up to 6.5 cm (2.6 in). They are mostly hollow in the center, often containing at least one fragile hair that erupts 1–3 cm (0.39–1.18 in) from the skin and is 0.1 mm (0.0039 in) thick. The tubercles develop early in the womb and may have a sensory function as they are rich in nerves.
The dorsal or upper-side of the animal is generally black; the ventral or underside has various levels of black and white coloration. Whales in the southern hemisphere tend to have more white pigmentation. The flippers can vary from all-white to white only on the undersurface.
The varying color patterns and scars on the tail flukes distinguish individual animals. The end of the genital slit of the female is marked by a round feature, known as the hemispherical lobe, which visually distinguishes males and females.
This image was taken near Isafjordur in Iceland
A somewhat worse for wear Nubian giraffe, looking old and dark he had a large patch of white pigmentation on his neck and the hair on his horn like ossicones was literally worn to the bone.
Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda, June 2019
Nikon D500, 300mm F4 PF & 1.4TCiii @ F8, 1/1600, ISO1400
Today I didn't go to my English class because I didn't feel so well.. so I decided to try and do something half way decent during that time and was playing with makeup :)
I bought some really nice L'Oreal High pigmentation make up that has really really bright colours and used some loose eye glitter and looked out of the window!
The camera I held right next to my eye and tried to hold it steady!
This is what came out!
The incredible variations in the pigmentation of Faversham's Early Purple Orchids, from near white (A true non-pigmented species does exist, var. alba) light pinks, commonly seen around the south of Faversham and a true rich purple, all seen in a single small spinney just outside Stalisfield this afternoon, nature is fab!
Melanism is the congenital excess of melanin in an organism resulting in dark pigment.
Pseudomelanism, also called abundism, is another variant of pigmentation, identifiable by dark spots or enlarged stripes, which cover a large part of the body of the animal, making it appear melanistic.
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)melanistic_0872
Given that I was in Louisville for the NBDCC 2025 (National Barbie Doll Collectors Convention), I decided (after hemming and hawing) to drive the hour and forty-five minutes to Bowling Green to try to find the white squirrels on campus. I was told they are all over, but you have decent odds trying at the WKU campus. So off I went. After arriving early (benefiting from the time change to Central), I walked around and noticed a number of Eastern Grey Squirrels on campus, but for the first hour, any white ones were elusive. Then by the Housing and Residence Life building (and the Centennial Mall), I noticed a bright white object moving. I found one! This little guy (little chance to mistake that) was probably the only one I saw. I moved around and did not find any others - but got some great pictures of this little charmer.
FWIW, the white squirrels in Bowling Green, Kentucky are leucistic. A leucistic squirrel has a condition that leads to a partial loss of pigmentation. The distinction between leucistic squirrels and albino squirrels is typically in the eyes. If they have dark eyes and are white or mostly white or off-white, they have leucism. A great squirrel tourism campus indeed! Taken on Friday June 27th, 2025 in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Drove four hours to
find these beauties on campus.
Totally worth it.
#SquirrelHaiku
Do you know A tiger's coat pattern is still visible when it is shaved. This is not due to skin pigmentation, but to the stubble and hair follicles embedded in the skin. It has a mane-like heavy growth of fur around the neck and jaws and long whiskers, especially in males. The pupils are circular with yellow irises. The small, rounded ears have a prominent white spot on the back, surrounded by black. These spots are thought to play an important role in intraspecific communication
The old dead chokecherry finally broke near the ground and 3 species of Ichneumon wasps were laying eggs in the stump. This one is alternating brown and yellow. Body around 1 in long with much longer ovipositor. Home, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. 15 June 2023
I didn't realize there could be such a variation in size in the species but 2 experts agree on inaturalist. I guess that would make it 2 species, not 3. Small laying female, only 1 in long body.
Source: Wikipedia
Megarhyssa macrurus, also known as the long-tailed giant ichneumonid wasp[1] or long-tailed giant ichneumon wasp,[2] is a species of large ichneumon wasp.[3] It is a parasitoid, notable for its extremely long ovipositor which it uses to deposit an egg into a tunnel in dead wood bored by its host, the larva of a similarly large species of horntail.
Description
Megarhyssa macrurus has a reddish-brown body of up to 2 inches (51 mm) long.[5] It has black and yellow-orange stripes.[6] Its wings are transparent and the body elongated. The body and ovipositor together can be more than 5 inches (130 mm) long in the female. Males are smaller and have no ovipositor.[6]
The ovipositor
The ovipositor looks like a single filament, but it comprises three filaments, the middle one of which is the actual ovipositor, which is capable of drilling into wood. This central filament also appears to be a single filament, but is made of two parts, with a cutting edge at the tip. The two parts interlock and slide against each other.
Although very thin, the ovipositor is a tube and the egg being laid moves down a minute channel in its center. The outer two filaments are sheaths which protect the ovipositor; they arc out to the sides during egg-laying.[6]
Distribution
M. macrurus is found across the eastern half of the United States, reaching into the extreme south of Canada near the Great Lakes.[7]
Behaviour
Pigeon tremex horntail (Tremex columba)
M. macrurus is harmless to humans;[6][8] they are parasitoids on the larvae of the pigeon horntail (Tremex columba, Symphyta), which bore tunnels in decaying wood.[9] Female Megarhyssa macrurus are able to detect these larvae through the bark; they paralyse them and lay their eggs on the living but paralysed larva; within a couple of weeks the Megarhyssa larvae will have consumed their host and pupate, emerging as an adult the following summer.[6] www.inaturalist.org/taxa/47963-Megarhyssa-macrurus
'There is no other North American Megarhyssa species with two black spots on the wings. The patterns on the metasoma (abdomin) can vary somewhat between individuals. See bugguide.net/node/view/84171' enature comment on inaturalist.
Identification
Females of M. macrurus are distinguished from those of M. greenei by having the forewing pigmented along the basal vein (such that 2-3 distinct regions of pigmentation are present) and by the longer ovipositor length of about 2.2-2.3x the body length (3.0x forewing length). They also have dark vertical stripes on the face.(2)
Males are distinguished from all other species in the genus by the presence of pigmentation on the forewing (at the base of cell 2R1). They are also the only members of the species to have vertical lines on the face.(2)
Range
e NA to Rocky Mtns. / n. Mex. (BG data)
Food
Larvae parasitize Pigeon horntail (Tremex columba, Siricidae)
- Range: e. NA to Calif.
The equivalent of albinism in animals, erythrism results from the inheritance of two recessive genes for the absence of pigmentation. Normally the katydid colour palette runs the gamut of greens, browns and yellows, colours which keep them camouflaged and aid in their survival. Although it has been hypothesized that pink coloration may increase survival rates amongst red vegetation it is much more likely that the genetic anomaly decreases fitness by increasing the insect's visibility to predators. Therefore it is likely that most individuals with this condition don't survive long and rarely make it to adulthood. Photo from the Santa Marta region, Colombian Caribbean.
The red-crested turaco (Tauraco erythrolophus) is a turaco, a group of African otidimorph birds. It is a frugivorous bird endemic to western Angola. Its call sounds somewhat like a jungle monkey.
Red-crested Turaco is a medium-sized bird, with characteristic red and green pigmentation, typical in this genus. It is endemic to Angola.
This turaco is very similar to Bannerman’s Turaco (Tauraco bannermani), but they differ in crest and face colours.
A couple of baddies c. 3093
Cranians are an adaptable species whose biology is to a great extent shaped by their surroundings. Those dwelling in domed cities (pictured left) develop a relatively soft outer shell with weak pigmentation, and are generally nimble and agile. Those living in the wastelands (pictured right) develop a hard chitin shell and their bodies can absorb and store the pollution, which they can channel into biologically-receptive technology and weapons.