On Wed, 7 Apr 2004 16:38:52 +0000 (UTC), Tim Tyler 
wrote:

>r norman  wrote or quoted:
>> On Tue, 6 Apr 2004 16:09:22 +0000 (UTC), Tim Tyler
 wrote:
>> >SeeBelow{at}seebelow.nut wrote or quoted:
>
>> >> I have often wondered my mammals are deficient in coloration when
>> >> compared to birds, insects, fish & reptiles.  
Mammals cannot make
>> >> green, nor true blue, nor true red, but only shades of
brown, black &
>> >> white.  Why is that?
>> >
>> >Because it is not true?
>> >
>> >http://www.pims.math.ca/industrial/2003/summw/mandrill.jpg
>> 
>> The statement really applies to hair colors.  Many organisms can
>> produce structural colors including green and blue in cutaneous cells.
>> The picture shows skin color, not hair color.
>
>Perhaps try these links, then:
>
>Blue:
> * Mandrill:
>   http://www.geometer.org/beginner/mandrill.jpg
>   http://www.mindysmem.org/gfx/mandril1.jpg
>   http://www.kevinschafer.com/es/images/eslgv7.jpg
>
> * Blue monkey:
>   http://spinner.scis.nova.edu/Faculty/sumitra/safari2001/baboon/bluemonkey.jpg
>
>Red (OK - maybe not "true" red ;->):
> * Red squirrel
>   http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/news/jan02/images/redsquirrelx.jpg
>
> * Red Fox
>   http://www.johnwasserman.com/web_photos/l3revised.jpg
>
> * Tori Amos ;-)
>   http://www.tori-fanpage.de/Biographie/tori_red_hair.jpg

Sorry, I don't see a clear real blue pigment (or interference color)
in the fur.  Some pictures might possibly have white hairs that show a
bluish tinge.  Only one shows real blue and, not knowing enough about
mandrills, might still be skin coloration.  Is there a citation to a
chemical pigment that is blue or to a specific semi-crystalline array
of reflective molecules that produce a structure blue color in hair?

I never had a problem with red pigments in hair.  Those are quite
common.
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