Article
Article
Color vision
Article By:
Riggs, Lorrin A. Department of Psychology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.
Last reviewed:August 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.149800
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The ability to discriminate light on the basis of wavelength composition. Color vision is found in humans, in other primates, and in certain species of birds, fishes, reptiles, crustaceans, and insects. These animals have visual receptors that respond differentially to the various wavelengths of visible light. Each type of receptor is especially sensitive to light of a particular wavelength composition. Evidence indicates that primates, including humans, possess three types of cone receptors (Fig. 1), and that the cones of each type possess a pigment that selectively absorbs light from a particular region of the visible spectrum. See also: Color vision in mantis shrimps; Light; Photoreception; Pigmentation; Primate color vision; Vision; Wavelength
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