Editing Mammal (section)

====Coloration====
Mammalian coats are coloured for a variety of reasons, the major selective pressures including [[camouflage]], [[sexual selection]], communication, and thermoregulation. Coloration in both the hair and skin of mammals is mainly determined by the type and amount of [[melanin]]; [[eumelanin]]s for brown and black colours and [[pheomelanin]] for a range of yellowish to reddish colours, giving mammals an [[earth tone]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Slominski A, Tobin DJ, Shibahara S, Wortsman J | title = Melanin pigmentation in mammalian skin and its hormonal regulation | journal = Physiological Reviews | volume = 84 | issue = 4 | pages = 1155–1228 | date = October 2004 | pmid = 15383650 | doi = 10.1152/physrev.00044.2003 | s2cid = 21168932 }}</ref><ref name="HiltonPond">{{cite journal | url=https://www.hiltonpond.org/ArticleAnimalColorsMain.html | title=South Carolina Wildlife | publisher=Hilton Pond Center | journal=Animal Colors | year=1996 | access-date=26 November 2011 | vauthors=Hilton Jr B | pages=10–15 | volume=43 | issue=4 | archive-date=25 January 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125191353/https://www.hiltonpond.org/ArticleAnimalColorsMain.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Some mammals have more vibrant colours; certain monkeys such [[mandrill]]s and [[vervet monkey]]s, and opossums such as the [[Mexican mouse opossum]]s and [[Derby's woolly opossum]]s, have blue skin due to [[structural coloration|light diffraction]] in [[collagen]] fibres.<ref name="Prum2004"/> Many sloths appear green because their fur hosts green [[algae]]; this may be a [[symbiosis|symbiotic]] relation that affords [[camouflage]] to the sloths.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Suutari M, Majaneva M, Fewer DP, Voirin B, Aiello A, Friedl T, Chiarello AG, Blomster J | display-authors = 6 | title = Molecular evidence for a diverse green algal community growing in the hair of sloths and a specific association with Trichophilus welckeri (Chlorophyta, Ulvophyceae) | journal = BMC Evolutionary Biology | volume = 10 | issue = 86 | pages = 86 | date = March 2010 | pmid = 20353556 | pmc = 2858742 | doi = 10.1186/1471-2148-10-86 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2010BMCEE..10...86S }}</ref>

Camouflage is a powerful influence in a large number of mammals, as it helps to conceal individuals from predators or prey.<ref name="bioscience.oxfordjournals.org">{{cite journal | vauthors = Caro T |year=2005 |title= The Adaptive Significance of Coloration in Mammals |journal=BioScience |volume= 55 | issue = 2 |pages= 125–136 |doi=10.1641/0006-3568(2005)055[0125:tasoci]2.0.co;2 |doi-access=free }}</ref> In arctic and subarctic mammals such as the [[arctic fox]] (''Alopex lagopus''), [[collared lemming]] (''Dicrostonyx groenlandicus''), [[stoat]] (''Mustela erminea''), and [[snowshoe hare]] (''Lepus americanus''), [[seasonal polyphenism|seasonal color change]] between brown in summer and white in winter is driven largely by camouflage.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Mills LS, Zimova M, Oyler J, Running S, Abatzoglou JT, Lukacs PM | title = Camouflage mismatch in seasonal coat color due to decreased snow duration | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 110 | issue = 18 | pages = 7360–7365 | date = April 2013 | pmid = 23589881 | pmc = 3645584 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.1222724110 | bibcode = 2013PNAS..110.7360M |bibcode-access=free | doi-access = free }}</ref> Some arboreal mammals, notably primates and marsupials, have shades of violet, green, or blue skin on parts of their bodies, indicating some distinct advantage in their largely [[arboreal]] habitat due to [[convergent evolution]].<ref name="Prum2004">{{cite journal | vauthors = Prum RO, Torres RH | title = Structural colouration of mammalian skin: convergent evolution of coherently scattering dermal collagen arrays | journal = The Journal of Experimental Biology | volume = 207 | issue = Pt 12 | pages = 2157–2172 | date = May 2004 | pmid = 15143148 | doi = 10.1242/jeb.00989 | bibcode = 2004JExpB.207.2157P | url = https://jeb.biologists.org/content/207/12/2157.full.pdf | hdl = 1808/1599 | s2cid = 8268610 | access-date = 25 January 2024 | archive-date = 5 June 2024 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240605171545/https://jeb.biologists.org/content/207/12/2157.full.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref>

[[Aposematism]], warning off possible predators, is the most likely explanation of the black-and-white pelage of many mammals which are able to defend themselves, such as in the foul-smelling [[skunk]] and the powerful and aggressive [[honey badger]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Caro T | title = Contrasting coloration in terrestrial mammals | doi-access = free | journal = Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences | volume = 364 | issue = 1516 | pages = 537–548 | date = February 2009 | pmid = 18990666 | pmc = 2674080 | doi = 10.1098/rstb.2008.0221 }}</ref> Coat color is sometimes [[sexual dimorphism|sexually dimorphic]], as in [[Sexual dimorphism in non-human primates#Pelage color and markings|many primate species]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Plavcan JM | title = Sexual dimorphism in primate evolution | journal = American Journal of Physical Anthropology | volume = Suppl 33 | issue = 33 | pages = 25–53 | year = 2001 | pmid = 11786990 | doi = 10.1002/ajpa.10011 | s2cid = 31722173 |s2cid-access=free | doi-access = free }}</ref> Differences in female and male coat color may indicate nutrition and hormone levels, important in mate selection.<ref name="eva.mpg.de">{{cite journal | vauthors = Bradley BJ, Gerald MS, Widdig A, Mundy NI |year=2012 |title=Coat Color Variation and Pigmentation Gene Expression in Rhesus Macaques (''Macaca Mulatta'') |journal=Journal of Mammalian Evolution |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=263–270 |doi=10.1007/s10914-012-9212-3 |s2cid=13916535 |url=https://www.eva.mpg.de/pks/staff/widdig/pdf/Bradley_et_al_2012.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924004623/http://www.eva.mpg.de/pks/staff/widdig/pdf/Bradley_et_al_2012.pdf |archive-date=24 September 2015 }}</ref> Coat color may influence the ability to retain heat, depending on how much light is reflected. Mammals with a darker coloured coat can absorb more heat from solar radiation, and stay warmer, and some smaller mammals, such as [[vole]]s, have darker fur in the winter. The white, pigmentless fur of arctic mammals, such as the polar bear, may reflect more solar radiation directly onto the skin.<ref name=hair/>{{rp|166–167}}<ref name=dawson2014/> The dazzling black-and-white striping of [[zebra]]s appear to provide some protection from biting flies.<ref name=Caro>{{cite journal | vauthors = Caro T, Izzo A, Reiner RC, Walker H, Stankowich T | title = The function of zebra stripes |bibcode-access=free | journal = Nature Communications | volume = 5 | pages = 3535 | date = April 2014 | pmid = 24691390 | doi = 10.1038/ncomms4535 | author1-link = Tim Caro | bibcode = 2014NatCo...5.3535C | s2cid = 9849814 |s2cid-access=free | doi-access = free }}</ref>