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Primates must accomplish three tasks in order to survive and reproduce: (1) recognize and avoid animals or circumstances that could result in death, (2) detect and acquire food, and (3) mate with appropriate individuals. Our lab is interested in how primates use vision to accomplish each of these tasks. We have a particular interest in the role of color, and understanding why color vision varies across primates. Some of the questions we would like to answer include:
- What are the selective advantages of routine or full trichromatic vision?
- What are the selective advantages of different color vision phenotypes common in New World monkeys?
- What visual cues do primates use to detect and acquire food at night?
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Much of our research has focused on the selective advantages of routine trichromatic vision. An advantage of trichromatic vision is that it facilitates discrimination of some food targets against a background of mature foliage (Figure 1). Debates over which particular kinds of foods favored the evolution of routine trichromatic vision have been spirited. Some authors stress the importance of detecting ripe fruits, whereas others emphasize the importance of detecting tender young leaves (Figure 2). Our approach to studying primate visual ecology integrates behavioral observations and color modeling with measurements of food nutritional properties.
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Figure 1. A Sulawesi crested macaque feeding on figs. Positioning your cursor on the image will demonstrate the difficulty of discriminating red food targets without trichromatic vision. The right side of the image simulates the dichromatic perspective of a human deuteranope. To dowload the Photoshop plug-in, click here. Original photo © Frans Lanting.
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Publications
Vogel ER, Neitz M, Dominy NJ. (2007). Effect of color vision phenotype on the foraging of wild white-faced capuchins, Cebus capucinus. Behavioral Ecology 18:292-297. [pdf]
Talebi MG, Pope TR, Vogel ER Neitz M, Dominy NJ. (2006). Polymorphism of visual pigment genes in the muriqui (Primates, Atelidae). Molecular Ecology 15:551-558. [pdf] Dominy NJ, Lucas PW. (2004). Significance of color, calories, and climate to the visual ecology of catarrhines. American Journal of Primatology 62:189-207. [pdf]
Dominy NJ, Lucas PW (2001). Ecological importance of trichromatic vision to primates. Nature 410:363-366. [pdf] |
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