Na'vi diversity

[Sothis]

I was reading the blu-ray pandorapedia and found these passages to be interesting. (Sorry for the all-caps... that's how it appears in the pdf.) Emphasis mine.

RANGE: ALL BIOMES OF PANDORA. POPULATIONS OF NA'VI ARE KNOWN TO EXIST IN EVERY ENVIRONMENT OF PANDORA, FROM TROPICAL RAINFOREST AND EQUATORIAL DESERT TO POLAR REGIONS, BOREAL FOREST, MOUNTAINS, OCEAN SHORELINES, WETLANDS, AND ARCHIPELAGO. THE NA‘VI SHOW EVIDENCE OF RAPID EVOLUTIONARY ADAPTATION TO WIDELY VARIED HABITATS. SOME SCENTISTS CONSIDER SOME OF THESE ADAPTATIONS SO SIGNIFICANT THAT THEY REPRESENT TRUE SPECIATION, BUT THIS IS CONTROVERSIAL, AND THERE IS STRONG AGREEMENT AMONG GENETICISTS THAT THE NA‘VI ARE A SINGLE SPECIES, THOUGH WITH WIDE VARIATION MORPHOLOGICALLY, LIKE DOMESTICATED DOGS ON EARTH.

NA'VI VARY IN SIZE, BY REGION AND GENETIC HISTORY. MAXIMUM RECORDED HEIGHT IS 5.9 METERS, WITH A MASS OF 290 KG, FOR A NA'VI MALE. ADULT NA'VI MALES IN THE REGION OF AUSTRALIS SURROUNDING HELLS GATE, AVERAGE 3 METERS IN HEIGHT AND 210 KG.

ALL NA‘VI HAVE A LONG, PREHENSILE TAIL. THIS IS USED FOR BALANCE, ACTING AS A MOVING COUNTERMASS TO SMOOTH OUT THE STRIDE AT A FULL RUN, AND TO ASSIST WITH DIRECTION CHANGES. THE TAIL IS ALSO USED FOR SOCIAL CUES REGARDING EMOTIONAL STATES, AS ARE THE EARS. SOME NA‘VI SUBSPECIES CAN SUSPEND THEIR WEIGHT FROM THEIR TAIL, BUT THE NA‘VI IN THE HELLS GATE REGION CANNOT. THEY HAVE BEEN OBSERVED HOWEVER USING THE PREHENSILE TIP OF THE TAIL TO GRIP TREE LIMBS AND VINES DURING CLIMBING, AND TO HELP ARREST A FALL.

From this, it would seem that some of Pandora's Na'vi would look quite different from what we see in the movie (the Omaticaya and their neighbors). For instance, the maximum recorded height is nearly twice as tall as the average Omaticaya male, and some of the other adaptations are so significant that a few scientists thought they were different species.

I think this is cool because it opens up a whole world of possibilities for how Na'vi might look elsewhere on Pandora. But they ARE all blue, apparently.

NA'VI SKIN IS HAIRLESS EXCEPT FOR THE CRANIUM AND THE TIP OF THE TAIL, AND CONTAINS CYANIN, A PIGMENT THAT PRODUCES COLORS IN THE BLUE, PURPLE AND CYAN SPECTRUM.