Biological pigment Biological pigment Biological pigments, also known simply as pigments or biochromes, are substances produced by living organisms that have a color resulting from selective color absorption. Biological pigments include plant pigments and flower pigments. Many biological structures, such as skin, eyes, feathers, 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
Champagne gene The dun gene is responsible for flat, diluted coat colors and vivid primitive markings. Bay dun is thought to be the wildtype horse coat color. Dun does not affect skin or eye color, but dilutes red pigment to yellow and black pigment to slate gray. Champagne horses with the dun gene will have slightly further-diluted coats compared to non-dun champagnes, and will always exhibit striking primitive markings, such as a dorsal stripe and zebra-like stripes on the legs. The silver dapple gene in horses does not affect the eyes, skin, or red pigment. Chestnuts are unaffected, but in bay, seal