In article <5417h1$32ag at uvaix3e1.comp.uvic.ca>,
mholmes at uvaix.uvic.ca (Martin Holmes) writes:
>Here's a question this group may be able to answer:
>>Given the fact that rabbits are rather defenceless prey animals that
>spend almost all of their life outside the warren eating against a
>green background, why haven't they evolved to be green? And why has no
>other similar mammal evolved green skin or fur, while many insects
>have?
>>Does anyone have any suggestions?
First read the answer from Dr Jos van den Broek which is the
scientific response to your question, after that, you have to think
about the environement of rabbits, which is NOT always green grass, but
also forests (at least edge), they also have a big part of their
alimentation composed of roots and tubers. Then, think a little bit more.
It's not so easy to see a brown animal in (tall) grass, but it's really
easy to see a green animal on a brown surface.
The exemple of insects is only a problem of scale. Did you ever
try to put a rabbit on a single blade???
Francois.
P.S.: I apology for my english, if someone understood something in that
post, please mail me language corrections, thanks.
--
Francois Jeanmougin
Service de bioinformatique / bioinformatics service
IGBMC BP 163
67404 Illkirch France
tel : (33) 88 65 32 71
e-mail : jeanmougin at igbmc.u-strasbg.fr
"Tout ca m'est tergal, qu'il laine ou qu'il chandail" (STTELLLA)
