Color vision, a proximate adaptation of the vision sensory modality, allows for the discrimination of light based on its wavelength components. Researchers studying the genes responsible for color vision pigments have long known that there exist four photopigment opsins in birds, reptiles and teleost fish. This indicates that the common ancestor of tetrapods and amniotes (~360 million years ago) had tetrachromatic vision, or the ability to discern four different types of color .

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dbpprop:abstract
  • Color vision, a proximate adaptation of the vision sensory modality, allows for the discrimination of light based on its wavelength components. Researchers studying the genes responsible for color vision pigments have long known that there exist four photopigment opsins in birds, reptiles and teleost fish. This indicates that the common ancestor of tetrapods and amniotes (~360 million years ago) had tetrachromatic vision, or the ability to discern four different types of color . Today most mammals possess dichromatic vision, and are only able to discern between short and long wavelengths. Primates are unique as they possess trichromatic color vision, and are able to discern between violet [short wave (SW)], green [medium wave (MW)], and yellow-green [long wave (LW)] . Within the primate sub-order, the catarrhines (Old World monkeys and apes, including humans) are routinely trichromatic, meaning that both males and females possess three opsins sensitive to SW, MW, and LW . Platyrrhines (New World monkeys), on the other hand, are non-routinely trichromatic; only a small fraction of platyrrhines are trichromats .
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  • Color vision, a proximate adaptation of the vision sensory modality, allows for the discrimination of light based on its wavelength components. Researchers studying the genes responsible for color vision pigments have long known that there exist four photopigment opsins in birds, reptiles and teleost fish. This indicates that the common ancestor of tetrapods and amniotes (~360 million years ago) had tetrachromatic vision, or the ability to discern four different types of color .
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  • Evolution of color vision
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