Eumelanin makes us develop a suntan and gives colour to brown and black hair, whereas those with red hair and pale skin instead have high levels of pheomelanin. (sciencedaily.com)
The study, published in the British Ecological Society's journal Functional Ecology, is the first evidence that wild animals adapt to ionizing radiation, and the first to show that birds which produce most pheomelanin, a pigment in feathers, have greatest problems coping with radiation exposure. (sciencedaily.com)
Because pheomelanin production requires lots of antioxidants, the researchers suspect these birds may not have enough left over to fight off the free radicals. (sciencemag.org)