Hot stuff and the smell - its burning

I knew it. I just knew it.

I am hot. Really hot. Well in theory.

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The Primal Roots of Red Hair Revealed
By LiveScience Staff
posted: 24 May 2007 06:36 pm ET

Primatologists know humans, apes and monkeys can see red, but have quarreled
over what initially locked the adaptation into place. Did it first help
primates find meals, or was the ability to see a red-headed, red-skinned
mate from a mile away the first benefit of full-color vision?

A new study shows that apes first evolved color vision to help them forage
food, after which nature made red the sexiest color around and spiked apes'
evolutionary tree with red hair and skin. The findings are detailed in this
week's issue of the American Naturalist.

André Fernandez, an evolutionary biologist at Ohio University and co-author
of the paper, explained that neuroscientists have already found animals are
highly attracted to brilliant colors. "So, it is reasonable for primates
with trichromatic color vision to respond more when they see bright colors"
like red, he said.

To discover the true origin of red hair, Fernandez collected data on the
hair and skin color, color vision and sexual habits of 203 different primate
species. He then plugged the data into the primate evolutionary tree

According to the tree, or phylogeny, color vision arose first, followed by
the appearance of red hair, skin and advanced mating systems.

"It looks like red skin and hair became a sexual preference," said
evolutionary biologist Molly Morris, the other study's author. "So while the
benefits in terms of eating may not apply anymore," she said, it's still
socially-and sexually-relevant for an ape to see red.
http://www.livescience.com/health/070525_red_primates.html