How Do You Tell if Animals Have Color Vision?
Ellis Loew

An often asked question is whether animals other than man can “see” colors. Interestingly, relatively few animals have been confirmed as having color vision in the human sense of the process. Since one cannot ask an animal directly what it sees, objective techniques must be applied to the problem.

This exploration will provide an introduction as to what color vision really is and what the requirements for it are at the cellular/neurological level. Live demonstrations will include: 1) electrophysiological measurements of visual function as applied to the problems of color vision; 2) microspectrophotometric measurements of visual pigments subserving color vision in fish; and 3) behavioral measures of spectral sensitivity in insects and fish. The results from the demonstrations will not only be discussed in terms of color vision capabilities but also within the context of adaptive significance to the animal living in a particular photic environment.