
Melanistic and typically colored jaguars. Photo: Eduardo Estrada / Wikimedia
A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg
melanism
PRONUNCIATION:
MEANING:
noun: An inherited overproduction of melanin leading to unusually dark coloration.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek melano- (black). Earliest documented use: 1842.
NOTES:
Melanism is nature’s “dark mode”. The opposite of albinism (“light mode”). Iconic examples: black panthers, melanistic jaguars, and peppered moths that went goth during the Industrial Revolution.