Showerthoughts

29590 readers

2083 users here now

A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The best ones are thoughts that many people can relate to and they find something funny or interesting in regular stuff.

Rules

All posts must be showerthoughts
The entire showerthought must be in the title
Posts must be original/unique
Be good to others - no bigotry - including racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia
Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

205

Ever notice mammals never seem to come in green? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

65 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 23 points 6 months ago (1 children)

We might not be looking at them with the right eyes

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/oct/04/positively-glowing-fluorescent-mammals-are-far-more-common-than-earlier-thought-study-suggests

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 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.