Presumably yes, but its still down to a roll of the dice whether a mutation like that happens in the first place, and whether the individuals who have that mutation live long enough to breed, and whether that mutation actually gets passed down, etc
Comment on Tigers 🐅 🐯
jeena@piefed.jeena.net 1 month ago
Wouldn't a mutation in the deer sight to see orange be vastly evolutionary beneficial?
apotheotic@beehaw.org 1 month ago
Xatolos@reddthat.com 1 month ago
It could, but it might also lead to something harmful for the deer at the same time. I’m not sure if the gene affecting the deer’s eyesight is known, but it could be a pleiotropic gene (a gene that influences multiple traits at once).
If that’s the case, and the other effect is negative and somehow spreads through the population, it could become a future issue for the deer. Think about humans—we lost the ability to produce our own vitamin C. Almost every other mammal can produce their own (except for hamsters). When this happened, it didn’t harm us right away, so it spread through the population. But over time, it led to issues that weren’t a problem before, like scurvy.
Same could happen to the deer.
meliaesc@lemmy.world 1 month ago
It’s been far more important, evolution wise, to be agile and quick enough to avoid predators. Like a security camera can only tell you how someone was murdered.
hexabs@lemmy.world 1 month ago
And then soon we’d have green tigers.
uniquethrowagay@feddit.org 1 month ago
There are no green mammals because of some biology reason I can’t remember.
hexabs@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Yeah I think it was a balance patch, because mammals that could photosynthesize were too OP.
DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 1 month ago
Basically all mammalian pigmentation is just melanin, so mammal colorings are mostly just different amounts of brown combined with different amounts of red, and some animals don’t even have the red.
Aqarius@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Also, the vast majority of mammals don’t see green either.
Churbleyimyam@lemm.ee 1 month ago
Competitive advantage over their deer peers.
superniceperson@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
Only in areas with tigers, and then it would only express itself enough if there were enough evolutionary pressure exclusively on that survival tactic.
As long as other causes of death happen to deer in tiger territories and as long as speed remains a good survival strategy, minor mutations that would only provide an advantage in extreme specific scenarios like a tiger stalking them wouldn’t have a chance to be spread.
There’s also a whole host of additional brain power that needs to be dedicated to more complex colour blending and processing, and that may add enough delay to offset any potential gain in recognizing a threat.
MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 1 month ago
Most north european can digest lactose.
zalgotext@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
North Europe is a frozen wasteland where nothing grows for like a third of the year, being able to digest lactose in those months is hugely advantageous. I don’t think “winter” counts as an “extreme specific scenario”
MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 1 month ago
Hey northern europe is not all Iceland.
Demdaru@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Black death IIRC. Milk was one of few easily availabke foods when farmers died off. So, extremely specific scenario.