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Vision

Trichromatic vision in prosimians

Nature volume 402, page 36 (1999) Cite this article

Trichromatic vision in primates is achieved by three genes encoding variants of the photopigment opsin that respond individually to short, medium or long wavelengths of light. It is believed to have originated in simians because so far prosimians (a more primitive group that includes lemurs and lorises) have been found to have only monochromatic or dichromatic vision1,2,3. But our analysis of the X-chromosome-linked opsin gene in 20 representative prosimian species provides evidence for trichromacy in ancestral and extant prosimians, indicating that it may have originated much earlier than is commonly believed.

Trichromacy in humans, apes, Old World monkeys and howler monkeys4 (a genus of New World monkey) is due to a short-wavelength-sensitive (S) opsin gene on an autosome and a middle- (M) and a long-wavelength (L) opsin gene on the X chromosome1. Other New World monkeys have only one autosomal and one X-linked opsin gene, but a polymorphism at the X-linked locus enables heterozygous female New World monkeys to be trichromatic1,5, although males and homozygous females are dichromatic.

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  1. Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, 1101 East 57th Street, Chicago, 60637, Illinois, USA

    Ying Tan & Wen-Hsiung Li

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  1. Ying Tan
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  2. Wen-Hsiung Li
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Tan, Y., Li, WH. Trichromatic vision in prosimians. Nature 402, 36 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/46947

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