"Mammalogist Maria Rutzmoser of Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology suggests a more complex explanation: that small mammals—the ones needing protective coloration the most—typically live on the ground, scurrying in leaf litter. "Dead leaves aren't green," she points out. "They're brown.""
Get funding to create a GAN to see what color is actual the best for hunted mammals.
> "Dead leaves aren't green," she points out. "They're brown.""
The article mentions that some sloths appear green because they grow algae. Sloths live in treetops among living leaves, so that would be consistent with her hypothesis.
Two explanations for green color in terrestrial animals that come to mind are (1) camouflage and (2) sexual selection for bright external colors.
Many mammals are nocturnal, which renders both of those inapplicable. But, one might think that green would be advantageous as camouflage to arboreal diurnal mammals such as monkeys, that have predators including large forest hawks and eagles. However, just because you have a selective hypothesis doesn't mean you necessarily expect it to have occurred in evolutionary history. In particular, we may not be looking at equilibrium states: perhaps the monkeys were nocturnal until recently, or perhaps vegetation distribution shifts have recently brought the predator-prey combinations we see today into contact.
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[ 2.3 ms ] story [ 37.6 ms ] threadGet funding to create a GAN to see what color is actual the best for hunted mammals.
Sell to military.
The article mentions that some sloths appear green because they grow algae. Sloths live in treetops among living leaves, so that would be consistent with her hypothesis.
Brown in a sea of green looks like a stick. Green in a sea of brown to me seems more unusual.
US Military uses Scorpion W2 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operational_Camouflage_Pattern
Multicam - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MultiCam
China - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xingkong_(camouflage) (No pics, jungle would be interesting to see)
But if you’re sure that’s good, that sounds unique
Many mammals are nocturnal, which renders both of those inapplicable. But, one might think that green would be advantageous as camouflage to arboreal diurnal mammals such as monkeys, that have predators including large forest hawks and eagles. However, just because you have a selective hypothesis doesn't mean you necessarily expect it to have occurred in evolutionary history. In particular, we may not be looking at equilibrium states: perhaps the monkeys were nocturnal until recently, or perhaps vegetation distribution shifts have recently brought the predator-prey combinations we see today into contact.