Birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, insects? Sure. But no mammals.

So I had to google it. Apparently, there is a sloth that moves around so slowly moss grows all over it and it doesn’t care. So it may appear green, but only in the sense that it wears it.

  • PahdyGnome@lemmy.world
    412·
    5 months ago

    This may have already been covered but whilst there might not be mammals that appear green to human eyes there are certainly mamals that appear green to the prey/predators in their environment.

    Perfect example is a tiger who (to us) stands out like a sore thumb with its orange fur but is perceived as green with black stripes through the eyes of its prey, making it very well camouflaged in the jungle.

  • reddig33@lemmy.world
    36·
    5 months ago

    You’d think evolutionary, there would be at least some green mammals to help them blend into the plant life around them. Like bunnies hiding in bushes, or monkeys in trees. I suppose shades of brown work similarly in the same situations.

    I know some predators don’t see color the same way humans do — could the lack of green and dominance of brown have something to do with seeing motion, or heat, or something else we don’t see?

    • Afghaniscran@feddit.uk
      52·
      5 months ago

      iirc, the reason tigers are black and orange stripey is because deers and whatever else they eat don’t see orange, they see green. This blends the tiger in with the surroundings better.

      • HonoraryMancunian@lemmy.worldEnglish
        21·
        5 months ago

        That’s why hunters’ jackets are bright orange. Hides them from game (whilst simultaneously making them visible to other people)

    • tunetardis@lemmy.caOPEnglish
      14·
      5 months ago

      Right? I guess that’s what puzzles me the most about it. It must be really hard for mammals to become green since you would think it would confer an advantage in many environments you find them in.

      I guess there are a lot of mammal species that kind of make themselves scarce during the broad daylight hours, so maybe green camouflage is less relevant if you’re only out between dusk and dawn?

    • Gilles_D@feddit.de
      9·
      5 months ago

      This is just a guess, but could it be that brown is more useful since mammals (at least the first ones) dwell on and in the ground, where brown would be more beneficial for survival?

    • DrRatso@lemmy.ml
      6·
      5 months ago

      At least humans have the highest sensitivity specifically around 555 nm (green).

    • tunetardis@lemmy.caOPEnglish
      6·
      5 months ago

      Wow, that is fascinating!

      Makes me wonder about the other direction, going into the near infrared as opposed to UV. I remember from a class in remote sensing that many plants are actually most reflective in that band (more so than in green, even). NIR air photos are often used by biologists to get an indication of the health of a forest. But I have no idea whether animals also reflect NIR? It may be that most animals cannot see in that band in the first place, so it would not offer any camouflage advantage.

  • betterdeadthanreddit@lemmy.worldEnglish
    253·
    5 months ago

    They’re out there but it’s been hard to document their existence since they blend in so well with their environment. This natural camouflage is a double-edged sword, however: they may be able to avoid getting eaten by predators but it also makes reproduction particularly challenging since they have a hard time finding one another to do it like the Discovery channel.

    Even when a potential breeding pair are able to meet up, their coupling is far from guaranteed due to the abundance of other green orifices in their usual habitats. Grass-covered mole tunnels, mossy logs with holes in them and bee nests in leafy trees have all been accidental natural fleshlights for these poor creatures. Like they say, it’s not easy being green.

  • JungleJim@sh.itjust.works
    19·
    5 months ago

    I don’t know how relevant this is but I heard human eyes are very good at picking shades of green out. Maybe mammals are generally good at spotting greens and so hiding as a green thing doesn’t work as well. Just a guess though

    • tunetardis@lemmy.caOPEnglish
      14·
      5 months ago

      From what other posters are saying, it may be the other way around? That is, most mammals cannot see green, so it doesn’t matter from a camouflage perspective among mammals. Humans (and primates in general) are an outlier in this repect.

      Bird of prey can, though, so there’s that.

      • JungleJim@sh.itjust.works
        1·
        5 months ago

        I thought Veritasium was a Harry Potter spell but apparently I should have already known and watched a YouTube video before posting my silly thoughts.

  • spittingimage@lemmy.world
    12·
    5 months ago

    I think you’re right. I can’t think of a single green mammal. Why can we have green or blue eyes, but not other things?

    • TopRamenBinLaden@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      2·
      5 months ago

      Crazy. I had to look it up and I found some stuff, including this old web article from 2002 that talks about this cat. The cat’s name was, Miss Greeny, apparently.

      There are multiple sources, but there is no wiki page and none of the sources seem well known, so I’m having a hard time figuring out if it’s legit, or just a really good hoax.