I'm not sure this question even makes sense

[james_davis_nicoll]

But why are humans so drab compared to, say, birds? Is it just that mammals in general have lousy color vision (although ours is better than average) and that we're descended from animals that wouldn't have been able to make use of a wide variety of fur colors or is it that there's something about fur and hair that inherently limits its palette?

I will admit this ranks lower on my "inherent human features that require fixing" than the vitamin C thing, particularly given the existance of non-toxic dyes.

Comments

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

Mammals are a lot smarter than birds,

This will end badly.

[carloshasanax.livejournal.com]

My clue bat arm is sore. anyway, Doug is the birder.

Alas

[(Anonymous)]

I don't have the time just now. But I note we have been continually revising our estimate of bird intelligence upwards for a while now. Sparrows and whatnot included... putting my own biases aside, the best guess is that yes, sparrows probably are at least as bright as mice.


Doug M.