How do scientists/biologists determine wether an animal can see color or not.

2.99K views

How do scientists/biologists determine wether an animal can see color or not.

In: Biology

3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

They train them to pick between black and white objects. Once they master that, they move on to other colors, if they can learn to pick on color over another, they can tell the difference between the two. If not, one or both of those colors are ones they cannot distinguish.

Anonymous 0 Comments

I imagine they will ‘examine’ the animal and see if they have certain light receptors which help us see different colour from different objects. Some animals have different light receptors and some animals have more or less of them which restricts what colours they can and cannot see.

Anonymous 0 Comments

By checking the photo-receptors in their retinas. If they have things that function like cones in people, then their retinas have the ability to differentiate colors. They can examine these organs and see what happens when certain wavelengths of light (colors) hit them – a response is a pretty clear sign that colors can be distinguished. It’s possible (but unlikely) that an organ can receive and send signals that cannot be interpreted by the brain, so for at least higher-order animals additional testing on subjects can help reveal if actual color differentiation occurs.