A Spectrum of Sight: Monkey Color Vision Monkey species exhibit a fascinating range of color vision capabilities, largely depending on whether they are Old World or New World monkeys. Old World monkeys, such as macaques and baboons, generally possess trichromatic vision, much like humans. Here, in this post, we have explained the answer on "Can Monkeys see color" along with the comparison between human vision and monkey vision.
Collectively, this body of work demonstrates the utility of the macaque model for studying color vision and supports the idea that what we learn about color processing in the macaque will transfer directly, or nearly so, to the human. Discover the fascinating world of monkey color perception and find out if these animals are truly colorblind. Explore the latest research and understanding of how monkeys see the world through their eyes.
What color are monkey's eyes? The study reveals that eye color in Japanese macaques varies between individuals, ranging from orange to dark blue. The researchers classified them into "yellow" or "blue" eyes based on the yellow area in the iris' peripupillary ring. Monkeys with trichromatic vision, like us, are believed to have evolved from a common ancestor, which explains the similarities in our color perception.
On the other hand, monkeys with dichromatic vision, such as some New World monkeys, have a different evolutionary history and developed their own unique way of perceiving colors. Color vision is an essential aspect of a monkey's life and behavior. Monkeys rely on their color perception to identify ripe fruits, locate potential mates, and assess their environment for potential threats.
This is similar to red-green color blindness in humans, where they can distinguish blue from yellow and green, but struggle with differentiating red from green. An exception is the howler monkey, which has routine trichromatic vision, similar to Old World monkeys and humans. Colour vision is highly variable in New World monkeys (NWMs).
Evidence for the adaptive basis of colour vision in this group has largely centred on environmental features such as foraging benefits for differently coloured foods or predator detection. New findings in color vision research imply that humans can perceive a greater range of blue tones than monkeys do. University of Washington scientists compared connections between color-transmitting nerve cells in the retinas of humans with those in two monkeys, the Old World macaque and the New World common marmoset.