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Description
Sometimes, when egg cells or sperm cells are produced, a mistake is made in the copying of the genetic information, resulting in a mutated gene.

When the genome of frozen woolly mammoths was analyzed, it was revealed that the genes that determined their fur colour worked in a very similar way to the genes that determine hair colour in humans.

This means that hair colour mutations similar to the ones that occur in humans (for example blonde hair, and red hair) may also have occurred in mammoths.

Mutations are often referred to as harmful, neutral, or beneficial. Albinism is an example of a mutation that, while mild, is usually harmful.
In woolly mammoths, blonde or red hair would probably have been an example of a neutral mutation. Adult mammoths were so big and strong that they wouldn't have needed to worry too much about camouflage, and calves would've been looked after by their herds, so mammoths with unusual fur colour would probably have had relatively good chances of surviving to adulthood.

Feel free to download any of my Spore PNGs!

Description
Sometimes, when egg cells or sperm cells are produced, a mistake is made in the copying of the genetic information, resulting in a mutated gene.

When the genome of frozen woolly mammoths was analyzed, it was revealed that the genes that determined their fur colour worked in a very similar way to the genes that determine hair colour in humans.

This means that hair colour mutations similar to the ones that occur in humans (for example blonde hair, and red hair) may also have occurred in mammoths.

Mutations are often referred to as harmful, neutral, or beneficial. Albinism is an example of a mutation that, while mild, is usually harmful.
In woolly mammoths, blonde or red hair would probably have been an example of a neutral mutation. Adult mammoths were so big and strong that they wouldn't have needed to worry too much about camouflage, and calves would've been looked after by their herds, so mammoths with unusual fur colour would probably have had relatively good chances of surviving to adulthood.

Feel free to download any of my Spore PNGs!