Over the winter the arctic fox has a heavy white coat, but when early summer temperatures begin to melt the snow cover, the coat is shed for a thinner, two-tone brown pelage. ... A pigment called melanin, absent in white fur, gives the fox its brown summer coat.
Over the winter the arctic fox has a heavy white coat, but when early summer temperatures begin to melt the snow cover, the coat is shed for a thinner, two-tone brown pelage. ... A pigment called melanin, absent in white fur, gives the fox its brown summer coat