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Post-Genome Biology of Primates pp 93–120Cite as

Polymorphic Color Vision in Primates: Evolutionary Considerations

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Part of the book series: Primatology Monographs ((PrimMono))

Abstract

Color provides a reliable cue for object detection and identification during various behaviors such as foraging, mate choice, predator avoidance, and navigation. The total number of colors that a visual system can discriminate is largely dependent on the number of different spectral types of cone opsins present in the retina and the spectral separations among them. Thus, opsins provide an excellent model system to study evolutionary interconnections at genetic, phenotypic, and behavioral levels. Primates have evolved a unique ability for three-dimensional color vision (trichromacy) from the two-dimensional color vision (dichromacy) present in the majority of other mammals. This development was accomplished via allelic differentiation (e.g., most New World monkeys) or gene duplication (e.g., Old World primates) of the middle to long wavelength-sensitive (M/LWS, or red–green) opsin gene. However, questions remain regarding the behavioral adaptations of primate trichromacy. Allelic differentiation of the M/LWS opsins results in extensive color vision variability in New World monkeys, where trichromats and dichromats are found in the same breeding population, enabling us to directly compare visual performances among different color vision phenotypes. Thus, New World monkeys can serve as an excellent model to understand and evaluate the adaptive significance of primate trichromacy in a behavioral context. In this chapter, we summarize recent findings on color vision evolution in primates and other vertebrates and introduce our genetic and behavioral study of vision–behavior interrelationships in free-ranging sympatric capuchin and spider monkey populations in Costa Rica.

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Abbreviations

λmax :

Wavelength of maximal absorbance

cDNA:

Complementary DNA

ERG:

Electroretinogram

LCR:

Locus control region

M/LWS:

Middle to long wavelength-sensitive

MSP:

Microspectrophotometry

PCR:

Polymerase chain reaction

RH1:

Rhodopsin

RH2:

Rhodopsin-like

SWS1:

Short wavelength-sensitive type 1

SWS2:

Short wavelength-sensitive type 2

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Acknowledgments

We thank R. Blanco Segura, M.M. Chavarria, and other staff of the Área de Conservación Guanacaste for local support, and we are grateful to the Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía (MINAE) of Costa Rica for giving us permission to conduct our field study in Santa Rosa. We appreciate the help of E. Murillo Chacon, C. Sendall, K.M. Jack, S. Carnegie, L. Rebecchini, A.H. Korstjens, G. McCabe, and H. Young with collection of fecal samples and behavioral data and assistance in the field. Our field study was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research A 19207018 and 22247036 from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas “Comparative Genomics” 20017008 and “Cellular Sensor” 21026007 from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan to S.K.; a Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows (15-11926) to C.H.; postgraduate scholarships and grants from the Alberta Ingenuity Fund, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Leakey Foundation, and the Animal Behavior Society to A.D.M.; the Canada Research Chairs Program and a Discovery Grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to L.M.F.; the Leakey Foundation and the North of England Zoological Society to F.A.; and the British Academy and the University of Chester small grants scheme to C.M.S.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan

    Shoji Kawamura & Chihiro Hiramatsu

  2. Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Chihiro Hiramatsu

  3. Department of Anthropology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Amanda D. Melin

  4. Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA

    Amanda D. Melin

  5. Psychology Department, University of Chester, Chester, UK

    Colleen M. Schaffner

  6. Instituto de Neuroetologia, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Mexico

    Colleen M. Schaffner & Filippo Aureli

  7. Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK

    Filippo Aureli

  8. Department of Anthropology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Linda M. Fedigan

Authors
  1. Shoji Kawamura
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  2. Chihiro Hiramatsu
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  3. Amanda D. Melin
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  4. Colleen M. Schaffner
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  5. Filippo Aureli
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  6. Linda M. Fedigan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shoji Kawamura .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Kanrin 41-2, Inuyama, Aichi, 484-8506, Japan

    Hirohisa Hirai

  2. Department of Cellular and Molecular Bio., Inuyama, 484-8506, Japan

    Hiroo Imai

  3. Kyoto University, Primates Research Institute, Kanbayashi, Inuyama, 484-8506, Aichi, Japan

    Yasuhiro Go

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Kawamura, S., Hiramatsu, C., Melin, A.D., Schaffner, C.M., Aureli, F., Fedigan, L.M. (2012). Polymorphic Color Vision in Primates: Evolutionary Considerations. In: Hirai, H., Imai, H., Go, Y. (eds) Post-Genome Biology of Primates. Primatology Monographs. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54011-3_7

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