Spectral sensitivity in humans and other animals

 

Most of what anyone would want to know about this subject is here:

http://www.physics.uq.edu.au:8001/ph128/6d.html

or

http://psych.athabascau.ca/html/Psych402/Biotutorials/23/cone.shtml

 

What about other animals? What kind of colors do they see? Most animals see fewer colors than we do, but some see more! We know this by looking at how many kinds of cone photoreceptors they have. Another good indication of what an animal can see is by looking at its own colors. The colors of their prey are also an indication of an animal’s ability to see color.

 

Here is a table showing some of what is known about color vision in other animals.

http://lsvl.la.asu.edu/askabiologist/research/seecolor/atable.html

 

 

Here is a nice informal discussion of color evolution in vertebrates of all kinds:

http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/vision.html