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Science 7 December 1973:
Vol. 182. no. 4116, pp. 1034 - 1035
DOI: 10.1126/science.182.4116.1034
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Articles

Color Changes, Unusual Melanosomes, and a New Pigment from Leaf Frogs

Joseph T. Bagnara 1, John D. Taylor 2, and Giuseppe Prota 3

1 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721
2 Departments of Biology and Comparative Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 48202
3 Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Naples, Naples, Italy

Melanosomes of phyllomedusid frogs are unusually large and are composed of an amorphous matrix of thick fibers. Their hitherto undescribed dark red pigment is neither phaeomelanin nor eumelanin, but seems to be related to melanins. Melanophores of at least one of these species, Agalychnis dacnicolor, exhibit color change in direct response to illumination, and it is suggested that these chromatophores are innervated.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Common origin of pigment cells.
J. Bagnara, J Matsumoto, W Ferris, S. Frost, W. Turner Jr, T. Tchen, and J. Taylor (1979)
Science 203, 410-415
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)