this post was submitted on 11 Apr 2025
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Science Memes

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[–] Toes@ani.social 5 points 15 hours ago

Almost like our eyes evolved to give danger its own colour.

[–] MyNameIsAtticus@lemmy.world 14 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Desperately need me a community just for tiger facts like this and pictures of tigers. Greatest of the Big Cats

[–] Hikermick@lemmy.world 7 points 20 hours ago

Thank you for subscribing to Big Cat Facts

[–] Churbleyimyam@lemm.ee 4 points 16 hours ago

This must be utterly terrifying for them.

[–] REDACTED@infosec.pub 7 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Would not green be the obvious route then?

[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 9 points 18 hours ago

AFAIK green is more expensive to produce. Plants use it since it's good at absorbing sunlight, but what's the advantage to a tiger, if their prey can't tell the difference?

[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 20 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Do the tigers know they are orange?

[–] i_dont_want_to@lemmy.blahaj.zone 12 points 18 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Actionschnils@feddit.org 3 points 16 hours ago

Ist is possible to make the own pattern visible? Like with special Cameras and Light?

[–] TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world 20 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Do humans know tigers are green?

[–] kamen@lemmy.world 6 points 21 hours ago

Asking the real questions

[–] lugal@sopuli.xyz 11 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

No, they too are dichromats

[–] bonsai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 76 points 1 day ago

Meanwhile my colorblind ass:

[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 144 points 1 day ago (3 children)

This is also why hunting vests are bright orange. Easy for humans to spot, and deer get confused by there being a fucking tiger loose in New England.

[–] dryfter@lemm.ee 4 points 21 hours ago

Ok this makes complete sense now, thank you!

[–] Lyrl@lemm.ee 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Apparently pink works as well, if a hunter wants a second color vest

[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 11 points 19 hours ago

That works on the same principle, except the deer thinks you're a panther.

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[–] jeena@piefed.jeena.net 26 points 1 day ago (15 children)

Wouldn't a mutation in the deer sight to see orange be vastly evolutionary beneficial?

[–] Xatolos@reddthat.com 8 points 21 hours 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 humansβ€”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.

[–] superniceperson@sh.itjust.works 29 points 1 day ago (4 children)

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.

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[–] apotheotic@beehaw.org 11 points 1 day ago

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

[–] Churbleyimyam@lemm.ee 1 points 16 hours ago

Competitive advantage over their deer peers.

[–] meliaesc@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day 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.

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Tigers are generally crepuscular which means they’re most active around dawn or dusk, when the sun is very low in the sky. Their orange fur does not stand out so well when everything looks orange under the golden light of dawn.

[–] JimVanDeventer@lemmy.world 39 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Thank you, evolution, for allowing me to see orange so I can get an head start and outrun a mother fucking tiger!

[–] jwt@programming.dev 31 points 1 day ago (3 children)

outrun a mother fucking tiger

You only need to outrun your travelbuddy.

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[–] tetris11@lemmy.ml 66 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Do tigers themselves see themselves as orange, or are they genuinely surprised when humans easily spot them hiding in the grass?

My cats are surprised both by me seeing them sitting on an empty floor, and by other cats who they didn't see sitting on the floor.

So I can only conclude the answer is semi-perpetual amazement.

They do not, like almost all mammals they are dichromatic! It's mostly us and some primates that can see in three wavelengths. Although interestingly enough, fish and birds can see in four wavelengths. Makes me wonder if that contributed to smaller cats being mostly gray and black, to just reduce as much light as possible?

[–] VivianRixia@piefed.social 76 points 1 day ago (15 children)

So was it just random that their fur is orange and not green? As both would help hunt prey just as well. Or is the advantage of being orange, that it wards away other tigers and predators that might otherwise muscle into its territory and create conflict.

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 178 points 1 day ago (10 children)

It’s also orange because mammals can’t produce green pigments, so orange is the next best thing if your prey is red-green colorblind.

[–] InverseParallax@lemmy.world 101 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

Our primary outer protein is basically keratin, which can be tinted orange(carotene), beige (collagen) or brown/black (melanin).

The green pigment is a byproduct of bilirubin catabolism, which we don't have because we use a different pathway to metabolize and recycle it.

[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 49 points 1 day ago (2 children)
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Oooh I just thought nature was fucking stupid

[–] goodwipe@lemmy.ca 48 points 1 day ago (6 children)

The green image of the tiger is terrifying. You wouldn't see it until it's eyes or teeth were baring down on you in a lush green forest. Thankfully humans weren't it's main prey and therefore it likely evolved to appear orange instead...

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