Silver hair in a desert?

Could a species of humanoid creature that lives in a desert have metallic silver-coloured hair? I was wondering if it had the side-effect of reflecting the sun to reduce heat or something.

Desert animals are often paler-furred or skinned than non-desert equivalents. It helps reduce the heat they absorb, and it also lets them blend into what's often a light-toned, bright, environment, so I don't see a problem there.

That's for animals, but when you think about it, the closer to the deserts we get, the "darker "people become. Dark skin, dark hair; whereas in Scandinavia, people originally had mostly light skin and blond hair. That changed a little, intermarriage and stuff, and the dark traits are dominant. But the original state was pretty much how humans react and adapt to the climate in the desert. And "humanoid" placed their DNA pretty close to ours.

You could still go with the white hair, but I, as a reader, would really like to get an explanation for that. Like "We are originally from Mars, and that's how Martians look like, and we don't intermarry, so it stayed that way" or something.

what do you mean by hair? human-like hair-on-top-of-the-head or completely furred like most mammals?
if they're furred then yeah, light colored hair helps reflect the sun. if they only have dense hair on top of their heads (and they're diurnal) then their skin would have to have more melanin to help protect them from skin cancer. and the more melanin they have the darker their skin and hair and generally eyes would be.

if you mean human-like hair you do have more leeway if they aren't originally from the desert. although if they've been there any length of time they'll have adapted in some way (e.g. the ones with higher melanin levels lived longer so the species is getting darker, they don't go out in the sun/they have developed sunscreen, etc.) or they'll have problems with sunburn and skin cancer.

Thanks, guys! I mean human hair on-top-of-head. They have dark skin alongside the silver hair.

I wouldn't think that non-human humanoids need to follow precisely the same rules that humans do. Evolution can do funny things at times.

If they have the dark skin to protect them, I'd have no problem with the white hair. As a reader, that is; as a scientist that might be different, but hey, guess what, I always sucked at science classes^^
But as keolah said, evolution could explain that hair bit sufficiently; since they are not entirely human. It's just... no fur AND no dark skin wouldn't be that plausible.

It's your universe. Silver Hair looks cool.

Dark skin in humans exists because that's how we prevent UV damage from the sun. Nothing stopping a non-terrestrial being from having silver hair AND silver skin if you wanted.

I guess I was assuming "alien".

As you get closer to the equator, and therefore sunnier, hot areas, you will find people with darker skin because the melanin in their skin dissipates the harmful aspect of UV rays. Dark skinned people have a lower risk of skin cancer for that reason. Europeans on the other hand evolved with lighter skin because the northern latitudes tend to be cooler.

But silver hair is cool. You can always give them dark skin with light hair, which I think makes for a cool contrast.