Are chinchillas colourblind?

Factual Questions
1

Question says it all really … do chinchillas see in colour, or only in black & white?

A cite would be appreciated …

Google has not been my friend. :rolleyes:

Thanks for any help on this. :slight_smile:

2

Near as I can tell, all rodents are colorblind. We used to raise chinchillas, but I don’t ever recall having any inclination to check their vision. :smiley:

3

Hi silenus …

I have a couple myself, and belong to a busy message board where the general consensus is that, as you say, all rodents are colourblind.

BUT we have some members who swear blind theirs can see colours … and no-one can find a definitive cite.

Here’s hoping … :slight_smile:

4

Anybody? I’d really like to know the answer to this, but if the Teeming Millions can’t help guess I’m outta luck. :frowning:

Someone on another message board has stated that research has shown guinea pigs can see in colour … but no cite was given. :rolleyes:

5

Nocturnal mammals almost never have color vision, so it is probably safe to say that chinchillas cannot discriminate colors in the same sense as you and I. A few diurnal rodents in the sciuridae, like some squirrels and marmots, apparently do have weak color vision, though they seem to be red-green color-blind. So do the diurnal guinea pigs, which while quite unrelated to the sciurids, are closely related to chinchillas. Further guinea pigs and a number of other rodents ( including some nocturnal ones - some are arguing now it was the ancestral condition ) are ultraviolet sensitive, which could also be considered a type of color vision ( and not one we share ).

So it is possible your chinchilla has ultraviolet vision ( my guess it hasn’t been studied in them - but I haven’t read the key papers like those referenced below ), but it is unlikely based on kiufe history that it has true color vision like ours.

References? You could try:

Jacobs, G. H. (1993). The distribution and nature of colour vision among the mammals. Biological Reviews, 68, 413-471

Jacobs, G. H., Neitz, J. and Deegan, J. F., II (1991). Retinal Receptors in Rodents Maximally Sensitive to Ultraviolet Light. Nature, 353:655-656.

and again from Jacobs, this abstract for guinea pigs:

Spectral sensitivity, photopigments, and color vision in the guinea pig (Cavia porcellus).

Jacobs GH, Deegan JF 2nd.

Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara 93106.

Behavioral discrimination tests and electroretinogram (ERG) flicker photometry were used to measure spectral sensitivity and to define the spectral mechanisms of the guinea pig (Cavia porcellus). Results from these 2 approaches converge to indicate that guinea pig retinas contain rods with peak sensitivity of about 494 nm and 2 classes of cone having peak sensitivities of about 429 nm and 529 nm. The presence of 2 classes of cones suggests a retinal basis for a color vision capacity. Behavioral tests of color vision were conducted that verified this prediction: Guinea pigs have dichromatic color vision with a spectral neutral point centered at about 480 nm. The cone pigment complement of the guinea pig is different from that known to characterize other rodents.

  • Tamerlane
6

Uh, “kiufe” = “life”

That would be life history, not kiufe history :D.

  • Tamerlane
7

That’s very helpful Tamerlane - thank you. :slight_smile:

8

Have you ever seen a chinchilla wearing matching dress & shoes?

Well, there you go… :smiley: