Title: melanism
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - melanism
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.14844
Status: current

Definition
Increased black or nearly black pigmentation of skin, feathers, or hair of an organism, resulting from (increased) synthesis of melanin.

Related Term
- industrial melanism: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/14763

Source
- PAC, 2009, 81, 829. 'Glossary of terms used in ecotoxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2009)' on page 913 (https://doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REC-08-07-09)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/14844/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/14844/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/14844/xml

Citation: Citation: 'melanism' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.14844
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Accessed: 2026-06-12T21:56:42+00:00