Radiation damages the genetic material of living organisms and causes unwanted mutations.

But sometimes radiation can favor animal organisms that are able to live in the zone of radioactive contamination, get access to food and territorial resources that few people claim. It turned out that frogs with a much darker color live in the exclusion zone. Some of them were completely black. Scientists suggest that the dark pigment melanin allows amphibians to live in conditions of increased radiation. Previously, such a function of melanin was found in fungi. The pigment absorbs and dissipates part of the radiation energy. In addition, it can neutralize reactive oxygen species that damage DNA and cell structures.