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In biology, a pigment is any material resulting in color of plant or animal cells, which is the result of selective color absorption. Many biological structures, such as skin, eyes, fur and hair contain pigments (such as melanin) in specialized cells called chromatophores. Pigment color differs from structural color in that it is the same for all viewing angles, whereas structural color is the result of selective reflection or iridescence, usually because of multilayer structures. For example, butterfly wings typically contain structural color, although many butterflies have cells that contain pigment as well.
Diseases and conditions A variety of diseases and abnormal conditions that involve pigmentation arise in humans and animals, either from absence of or loss of pigmentation or pigment cells, or from the excess production of pigment. Biological pigments | ||||||||
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