Cerebral achromatopsia is a rare disorder of colour vision caused by bilateral damage to the occipito-temporal cortex. Patients with cerebral achromatopsia are commonly said to suffer due to their disturbed colour sense. Here, we report the case of a patient with cerebral achromatopsia who was initially unaware of his deficit, although three experiments with eye movement recordings demonstrated...

Colour vision varies within the family Atelidae (Primates, Platyrrhini), which consists of four genera with the following cladistic relationship: {Alouatta[Ateles (Lagothrix and Brachyteles)]}. Spider monkeys (Ateles) and woolly monkeys (Lagothrix) are characteristic of platyrrhine monkeys in possessing a colour vision polymorphism. The polymorphism results from allelic variation of the single-...

Trichromatic colour vision is of considerable importance to primates but is absent in other eutherian mammals. Primate colour vision is traditionally believed to have evolved for finding food in the forest. Recent work has tested the ecological importance of trichromacy to primates, both by measuring the spectral and chemical properties of food eaten in the wild, and by testing the relative for...

Avian ketocarotenoid pigments occur in both the red retinal oil droplets that contribute to colour vision and bright red coloration used in signalling. Turtles are the only other tetrapods with red retinal oil droplets, and some also display red carotenoid-based coloration. Recently, the CYP2J19 gene was strongly implicated in ketocarotenoid synthesis in birds. Here, we investigate CYP2J19 evol...

Little is known about the sensory abilities of elasmobranchs (sharks, skates and rays) compared with other fishes. Despite their role as apex predators in most marine and some freshwater habitats, interspecific variations in visual function are especially poorly studied. Of particular interest is whether they possess colour vision and, if so, the role(s) that colour may play in elasmobranch vis...