Dinosaur Colour Vision
Dinosaur vision was, in general, better than the vision of most other reptiles, although vision varied between dinosaur species. Coelurosaurs, for example, had good stereoscopic or binocular vision, whereas large carnosaurs had poor binocular vision, comparable to that of modern alligators. Recent evidence has also shown that some species possessed highly specialized color and night vision.
[1][2]. Color vision would have provided numerous survival advantages for dinosaurs in their prehistoric ecosystems. For predatory dinosaurs, color discrimination would have enhanced hunting efficiency by helping them spot camouflaged prey against varying backgrounds and identify vulnerable individuals within herds.
New Discoveries Reveal Dinosaurs Had Vibrant Colors and Patterns ...
According to an international team of scientists led by Dr. Nicholas Mundy at the University of Cambridge, a gene for red color vision that originated in the reptile lineage approximately 250 million years ago has resulted in the red bird feathers and 'painted' turtles, and may be evidence that dinosaurs could see as many shades of red as birds. So dinosaurs most likely had color vision, too.
Vision is a complicated sense, however. Others were adapted for diurnal vision, with a higher density of cone cells for enhanced color vision and visual acuity in bright light. These adaptations allowed different species of dinosaurs to thrive in various light conditions and environments.
What Color Dinosaurs Were: Unveiling Prehistoric Hues
Dinosaurs were tetrachromats and capable of distinguishing red, green, and blue (like humans and other catarrhine primates) as well as ultraviolet and turquoise because of a 4 th (short wave-length) cone cell type. Protofeathers would have obscured color signaling and display from the skin. The evolutionary trade-off? A heightened sense of red color vision arose in ancient reptiles before bright red skin, scales and feathers, a new study suggests.
The finding bolsters evidence that dinosaurs probably saw red. A gene for red colour vision that originated in the reptile lineage around 250m years ago has resulted in the bright red bird feathers and 'painted' turtles we see today, and may be evidence that dinosaurs could see as many shades of red as birds. This ancient group gave rise to dinosaurs, as well as extant groups such as crocodiles and birds.
3D Dinosaur Ombre Color Vision Changing LED Lamp - | Ombre color, Color ...
Chang's team used a statistical method, known as maximum likelihood, that identifies the series of changes most likely to have generated the observed range of modern proteins and extrapolates the most likely common ancestor. In contrast, diurnal dinosaurs probably evolved sophisticated color vision systems optimized for daylight conditions, potentially including UV sensitivity to detect food sources or communicate with conspecifics.
