# What species can see the broadest spectrum of light? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 2, 2009, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-species-can-see-the-broadest-spectrum-of-light/508571 "2009-09-02T00:05:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-species-can-see-the-broadest-spectrum-of-light/508571/1 "2009-09-02T00:05:09Z")
I’ve read that many insects and birds can see into the ultraviolet, and wikipedia says some animals can see into infrared (although no specifics, and no cite). Any species that can do both? Somewhat related - are there any species with gaps in the color range they can see? As I understand it, color perception in most (all?) animals comes from a set of color-receptive cone cells, which at least in humans overlap plenty, so I kind of doubt it, but you never know. At least, I don’t. Maybe you do, and then you can tell me. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-species-can-see-the-broadest-spectrum-of-light/508571/2 "2009-09-02T00:45:17Z")
If you count a pit viper’s pits as “vision”, then they can both see in the infrared and have a gap in their vision (between what they see with their pits and what they see with their eyes). I think cuttlefish might be able to see both UV and IR, but I’m not sure about that. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-species-can-see-the-broadest-spectrum-of-light/508571/3 "2009-09-02T00:46:49Z")
Probably some variety of the [mantis shrimp.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis_shrimp) > [@](#): > > Mantis shrimp possess hyperspectral colour vision, allowing up to 12 colour channels extending in the ultraviolet[10]. Their eyes (both mounted on mobile stalks and constantly moving about independently of each other) are similarly variably coloured, and are considered to be the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom.[11][12] They permit both serial and parallel analysis of visual stimuli. Oh, and their claw can move so fast that it creates a cavitation bubble in the water that has sonoluminescence and, for a very brief period of time, it as hot as the surface of the sun. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-species-can-see-the-broadest-spectrum-of-light/508571/4 "2009-09-02T01:22:07Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Probably some variety of the [mantis shrimp.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis_shrimp) I heart mantis shrimp, which we did indeed learn as “thumb-splitters” in my marine invertebrate zoology class. But this gave me pause… > [@](#): > > The usual concerns associated with consuming seafood are an issue with mantis shrimp, as they may dwell in contaminated waters. **This is especially true in Hawaii where some have grown unnaturally large**. Are we looking at the next SyFy giant-mutated-animal-goes-on-a-murderous-rampage film candidate? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![horsetech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dec6dc/32.png) [@horsetech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/horsetech)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-species-can-see-the-broadest-spectrum-of-light/508571/5 "2009-09-02T02:18:47Z")
Crustaceans of unusual size, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-species-can-see-the-broadest-spectrum-of-light/508571/6 "2009-09-02T03:03:12Z")
I’ve always wondered what it would be like to fiddle with my genetics to alter my eyes to extend my vision into the IR and UV ranges. Theoretically possible because the eyes are soft tissue and continually regenerating. How would my mind perceive the newly registering colors? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Awesome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Captain\_Awesome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Awesome)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-species-can-see-the-broadest-spectrum-of-light/508571/7 "2009-09-02T03:41:20Z")
Under the right conditions humans can ‘see’ X-rays. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-species-can-see-the-broadest-spectrum-of-light/508571/8 "2009-09-02T05:20:51Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > I’ve always wondered what it would be like to fiddle with my genetics to alter my eyes to extend my vision into the IR and UV ranges. If it weren’t for the lenses of your eyes being opaque at those wavelengths, you could see somewhat into the UV without any change. At one time the plastic lenses they used for replacements were transparent in the UV and people with them could see UV. I understand that nowadays, replacement lenses are not UV-transparent, so you can’t get that effect anymore. Bees can see UV, but they can’t see red. Which seems very strange since there are so many reddish flowers out there. Apparently, these flowers look black to bees if they don’t also reflect in the UV. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-species-can-see-the-broadest-spectrum-of-light/508571/9 "2009-09-02T14:20:58Z")
Your eyes can see some ways into the IR. But with such poor sensitivity that your brain doesn’t notice it when ordinary light is available. See [Infrared Goggles for $10, inexpensive Congo Blue IR filters, SCIENCE HOBBYIST](http://amasci.com/amateur/irgoggl.html) for a way to experience your IR vision capabilities. ---
**Author:** ![rhysf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f14d63/32.png) [@rhysf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhysf)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-species-can-see-the-broadest-spectrum-of-light/508571/10 "2009-09-03T02:45:25Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > I’ve always wondered what it would be like to fiddle with my genetics to alter my eyes to extend my vision into the IR and UV ranges. > > Theoretically possible because the eyes are soft tissue and continually regenerating. > > How would my mind perceive the newly registering colors? Something like this has been done in mice. In [this](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17379811?ordinalpos=8&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum) study, mice were genetically engineered to express a third visual pigment in their retinas, allowing them to detect light at three different wavelengths instead of the usual two. These mice had colour vision instead of the dichromatic vision that mice and most eutherian mammals have had for millions of years. Amazingly, their brains seemed to have no problem interpreting this novel information – they were able to discriminate between colours that mice have never seen before. Also, there’s evidence that some mothers of colour-blind boys may be effectively tetrachromatic (four visual pigments instead of three) and have greatly enhanced colour vision. They appear to be able to discriminate between many more shades of colour than the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-species-can-see-the-broadest-spectrum-of-light/508571/11 "2009-09-03T14:13:49Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > If it weren’t for the lenses of your eyes being opaque at those wavelengths, you could see somewhat into the UV without any change. At one time the plastic lenses they used for replacements were transparent in the UV and people with them could see UV. I understand that nowadays, replacement lenses are not UV-transparent, so you can’t get that effect anymore. Why did they stop? Seeing in UV sounds very useful, or at least very cool. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-species-can-see-the-broadest-spectrum-of-light/508571/12 "2009-09-03T14:48:28Z")
Despite the impressive claims that the mantis shrimp has a great many color receptors (and some varieties can detect linearly and even circularly polarized light), I don’t think its visual range is extremely great – many species can see further into the UV than people. The 12 visual sensors are more about spectral resolution, not about extending the range. So can bees and, I think, horseshoe crabs. as Far as I know, no species sees far into the IR. I’ve never seen a comparison on a wavelength scale, but I suspect that such species whose vision extends to the UV represents the “largest visual range” Pit Viper Infrared Vision uses a different set of organs and isn’t continuous with the range sen by the eye. The “pit” acts like a pinhole camera with a huge pinhole, so vision isn’t really great in the IR – they mainly use it for direction sensing, not vision. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-species-can-see-the-broadest-spectrum-of-light/508571/13 "2009-09-03T16:23:59Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Why did they stop? Seeing in UV sounds very useful, or at least very cool. UV causes retinal damage; routinely bathing the retina in UV that’s normally blocked by the lens would be bad.