Why are orangutans orange?

Answer 1

First - we should note that they are more of a reddish-brown - kind of orange. Experts don't actually know why they are orange. It might seem they would have ginger hair for the same reason a people. As it turns out, it's not even the same gene! In mammals, there are two pigment molecules that affect hair color: phaeomelanin, which produces blond-to-red tones, and eumelanin, which produces darker brown-to-black colors. In humans, red hair is caused by a mutation in the MC1R gene. MC1R acts like a switch between which two are produced: the default is phaeomelanin, but if MC1R is activated, it switches to eumelanin. In humans with red hair, the switch is broken, so only phaeomelanin is produced, giving them red hair. In orangutan, the MC1R gene works fine. Scientists don't know enough details about the functions of orangutan genes to figure out what is responsible for red hair in orangutans, but they do it in a different way than us. It may be partly an evolutionary advantage since their hair color blends in well with the color of a lot of the tree bark in their environment - but that is strictly speculation.

Note: Although it might appear that they get their name from their hair color, their name is actually based on two separate local words, "orang" ("people" or "person") and "hutan" ("forest"), so their name means as 'person of the forest'.

First - we should note that they are more of a redish-brown - kind of orange rather than strictly brown. Experts don't actually know why they are orange. It might seem they would have ginger hair for the same reason a people. as it turns out, it's not even the same gene! In mammals, there are two pigment molecules that affect hair color: phaeomelanin, which produces blond-to-red tones, and eumelanin, which produces darker brown-to-black colors. In humans, red hair is caused by a mutation in the MC1R gene. MC1R acts like a switch between which two are produced: the default is phaeomelanin, but if MC1R is activated, it switches to eumelanin. In humans with red hair, the switch is broken, so only phaeomelanin is produced, giving them red hair. In orangutan, the MC1R gene works fine. Scientists don't know what is responsible for red hair in orangutans, but they do it in a different way than us. It may be partly an evolutionary advantage since their hair color blends in well with the color of a lot of the tree bark in their environment - but that is strictly speculation.

Note: Although it might appear that they get their name from their hair color, their name is actually based on two separate local words, "orang" ("people" or "person") and "hutan" ("forest"), so their name means as 'person of the forest'.