For Early Primates, a Night Filled With Color

It was believed for many years that primates could see in three colors due to the adaptations to daytime living. However, new research proves otherwise. The genes that encode for photopigments in the primates were studied and  it became apparent that the shared the three-color vision with their closest ancestor. This was an interesting find because the ancestor was not a daytime living animal, which is typically how the species would adapt such a trait. This evidence shows that the animals could have used this three-color vision to change to daytime living that was not typical for them. This adaptation for these primates is not heard of for night-living animals. The acquired traits made the primates transform into diurnal animals. The adaptation most likely occurred in the past due to bright conditions in the night.



These unique adaptations for nighttime-living primates gives great insight to biological changes in animals that make them more suitable for a specific environment. In the case of the primates, scientists were able to apply their study results to the specific case of tarsiers and conclude that brighter conditions at night may elicit the adaptation for trichromatic vision in these mammals.

For more information visit: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/science/tarsiers-hint-primates-developed-color-vision-at-night.html?_r=0 or http://genome.cshlp.org/content/9/7/629.long