Fluorescence spectrophotometric analysis of melanins in the house mouse.

We extracted the yellow melanin (phaeomelanin), black melanin (eumelanin), and mixed type of melanin from dorsal hair of dominant yellow (Ay/a), non-agouti (a/a), and agouti (A/A) mice, respectively. Spectrophotometric and fluorescence spectrophotometric analysis demonstrated that the yellow melanin was qualitatively distinct from the black melanin and that the agouti hair contained both types of pigment.