Recent advances in the biology of mammalian pigmentation are reviewed. The multicellular epidermal melanin unit (melanocyte and associated pool of keratinocytes) rather than the melanocyte alone forms the focal point for melanin metabolism within mammalian epidermis. Within an epidermal melanin unit, melanosomes are synthesized by melanocytes and transferred to keratinocytes where they are degraded as they ascend to the epidermal surface. During the past 25 years, technical advances in biology and biochemistry have frosted a multidisciplinary approach to research on mammalian pigmentation. Emphasizing this perspective, we have examined the current state of knowledge of the form and function of epidermal melanin units from the levels of biologic organization ranging from the molecules relevant to melanin synthesis through the skin as a totally intergrated system. To an unusual degree, advances in melanin pigmentation have resulted from the integration of clinical medicine and basic science.