colour vision


colour vision

the ability of some animal groups to detect colour in an object, which is due in vertebrates to the activity of CONE CELLS in the retina of the eye. According to the TRICHROMATIC THEORY of colour vision, our perception of a multitude of colours is made possible by differential stimulation of only three types of cone cell, each containing a different coloured pigment (see IODOPSIN). Examples of animals with colour vision include primates, many fishes, and most birds and insects. Animals without colour vision probably see objects in shades of grey (monochrome vision).