An unusual condition where an animal produces excessive amounts of red or reddish pigment, making it appear unusually red or orange colored.
From Greek 'erythros' (red) combined with the suffix '-ism' meaning a condition or distinctive feature. This term was coined by naturalists in the 19th century to describe color variations.
Erythrism is nature's opposite of being 'off-color'—it's when an animal basically decided to turn up the red dial to maximum, creating rare cardinal-red foxes, crimson snakes, or scarlet fish that make other animals of their species look boring by comparison.
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