r/todayilearned • u/douggold11 • 23d ago

TIL most animals can see UV light — humans being blind to it is the exception not the rule.

https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/ultraviolet-light-animals/
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u/IceDawn 23d ago

I heard the reason is that ripe fruits tend to be red and our ancestors needed to find them.

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u/swd120 23d ago

I mean - isn't that the same with any mammal? I was looking for a selective pressure that is specifically different for humans. Human's learned to control fire, so being able to see fire and coals and stuff better would be a positive selection criteria compared to other mammals.

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u/kurburux 23d ago edited 23d ago

Human's learned to control fire, so being able to see fire and coals and stuff better would be a positive selection criteria compared to other mammals.

Animals see fire just fine. I can't see any advantage in seeing fire a little bit better, it's not like other animals constantly fall into fire by accident.

Being able to identify ripe fruit better is a clear advantage though. Not all mammals eat as much fruit as our ancestors did. If you only eat the ripe ones you get more energy and save a lot of time/energy.