Was just appreciating the pictures of these blue cats. A lot of them are essentially grey with just a hint of blue. The Chartreux cat, however, is strikingly blue, offset by these tangerine colored eyes.
Blue hair/fur doesn't turn up much in mammals. The evolutionary reasons why it's so rare are up for debate, as are the reasons why there are occasional exceptions.
With these cats, they have unusual colors because of genetics: alleles and eumelanin. In the case of humans, well, it's just boredom.
2 comments:
Except for Blue Whales I haven' t been able to think of or find any blue animals other than these cats you've discovered. The Chartreux is a very attractive feline said to be large, muscular and very devoted - sounds like a good dog, doesn't it? It's odd though that the shade called chartreuse is yellow-green without any hint of blue.
Creatures that are blue aren't all that unusual in the avian world, nor the insect, lizard, and fish kingdoms. I found some neat ones on the BBC.
https://www.discoverwildlife.com/photo-galleries/blue-animals
As the old saying goes, 'There's nothing so strange as folks'.
Ah yes, blue whales. I guess the color works as camouflage. Even the largest animals on the planet can blend in if they're somewhat submerged in the ocean. What exactly makes them blue, I don't know. Alleles working on very short hairs, maybe? Chartreux cats do have a sort of canine build. I wonder how they get along with dogs. There's a legend that Chartreux cats were brought to France by Carthusian monks, who also first distilled Chartreuse liqueur, so that's the connection.
Those are some bright blues all right, even the slug. Birds apparently appear blue because feathers are structured differently from hair.
Indeed the strangeness of folks is legendary.
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