An abnormal increase in red pigmentation in skin, feathers, or other body parts of animals; a genetic condition causing excessive redness.
From Greek erythro- meaning 'red' plus -ism (a suffix forming nouns of condition or quality). Related to the word 'erythrocyte' (red blood cell). The misspelling may be historical or dialectal variation of erythrism.
When you see a cardinal that's unusually bright red, or a lobster that's pure red instead of speckled, you're watching erythrism in action—it's nature's way of reminding us that even 'normal' colors are just statistical averages.
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