The role of colour vision in primate ecology
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Team:
Dr Andrew Smith
Collaborators:
Prof Hannah Buchanan-Smith, University of Stirling
Dr Eckhard Heymann, Deutsches Primatenzentrum, Gottingen.
Dr Nick Mundy, University of Cambridge
Prof Daniel Osorio, University of Sussex
Dr Alison Surridge, University of Cambridge
Dr Alison Thomas, Anglia Ruskin University
Dr Misha Vorobyev, The University of Aukland
Location of Fieldwork:
Estación Biológica Quebrada Blanco, Peru
Project description:
Within placental mammals, trichromacy is unique amongst primates: all other species so far examined are either dichromats or monochromats. It has been hypothesized that the evolution of trichromatic colour vision by the majority of primate species is a direct result of the chromatic signals produced by fruits or leaves. For an animal to feed on fruits it has first to detect them against a background of leaves. Vision and olfaction are probably the principal senses employed. Despite its theoretical advantages trichromacy is not uniform within the primates. Whilst all catarrhines so far studied are trichromatic, all platyrrhines (New World monkeys), with the two exceptions of howler (Alouatta spp. - uniformly trichromatic) and night monkeys (Aotus spp. - uniformly monochromatic) and some strepsirhines, have a polymorphic colour vision system. All males and homozygous females are dichromats, whilst heterozygous females are trichromats. My research in collaboration with colleagues at the universities of Stirling, Sussex and Cambridge has used New World monkeys as model species with which to examine the ecological implications of the various types of colour vision.
Our research examines the ecological implications of the various types of colour vision, such as the consequences for foraging, prey and predator detection, and spatial ecology. We are investigating the possibility of niche partitioning between the colour vision phenotypes and heterozygote advantage in the maintenance of colour vision polymorphism in New World monkeys. We are also exploring the relationship between fruit colouration and colour vision status of consumers.
Links:
Funding:
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
British Council
Dr Andrew Smith
Collaborators:
Prof Hannah Buchanan-Smith, University of Stirling
Dr Eckhard Heymann, Deutsches Primatenzentrum, Gottingen.
Dr Nick Mundy, University of Cambridge
Prof Daniel Osorio, University of Sussex
Dr Alison Surridge, University of Cambridge
Dr Alison Thomas, Anglia Ruskin University
Dr Misha Vorobyev, The University of Aukland
Location of Fieldwork:
Estación Biológica Quebrada Blanco, Peru
Project description:
Within placental mammals, trichromacy is unique amongst primates: all other species so far examined are either dichromats or monochromats. It has been hypothesized that the evolution of trichromatic colour vision by the majority of primate species is a direct result of the chromatic signals produced by fruits or leaves. For an animal to feed on fruits it has first to detect them against a background of leaves. Vision and olfaction are probably the principal senses employed. Despite its theoretical advantages trichromacy is not uniform within the primates. Whilst all catarrhines so far studied are trichromatic, all platyrrhines (New World monkeys), with the two exceptions of howler (Alouatta spp. - uniformly trichromatic) and night monkeys (Aotus spp. - uniformly monochromatic) and some strepsirhines, have a polymorphic colour vision system. All males and homozygous females are dichromats, whilst heterozygous females are trichromats. My research in collaboration with colleagues at the universities of Stirling, Sussex and Cambridge has used New World monkeys as model species with which to examine the ecological implications of the various types of colour vision.
Our research examines the ecological implications of the various types of colour vision, such as the consequences for foraging, prey and predator detection, and spatial ecology. We are investigating the possibility of niche partitioning between the colour vision phenotypes and heterozygote advantage in the maintenance of colour vision polymorphism in New World monkeys. We are also exploring the relationship between fruit colouration and colour vision status of consumers.
Links:
Funding:
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
British Council
Publications
Surridge, AK, Suárez, SS, Buchanan-Smith, HM, Smith, AC, & Mundy NI (2005) Distribution of colour vision phenotypes in wild tamarins (Saguinus spp.). American Journal of Primatology 67: 463-470Smith, AC; Buchanan-Smith, HM; Surridge, A & Mundy, N (2005) Factors effecting group spread within wild mixed-species troops of saddleback and moustached tamarins. International Journal of Primatology: 26: 337-355
Osorio, D; Smith, AC; Vorobyev, M & Buchanan-Smith, HM. (2004) Detection of fruit and the selection of primate visual pigments for colour vision. American Naturalist.164: 696-708
Smith, AC; Kelez, S & Buchanan-Smith, HM (2004) Factors affecting vigilance within wild mixed-species troops of saddleback (Saguinus fuscicollis) and moustached tamarins (S. mystax). Behavioural Ecology & Scociobiology 56:18-25.
Smith, AC; Buchanan-Smith, HM; Surridge, A & Mundy, N (2003) Factors affecting group leadership within wild mixed-species groups of saddleback and moustached tamarins, with special emphasis on colour vision and sex. American Journal of Primatology 61: 145-157.
Smith, AC; Buchanan-Smith, HM; Surridge, A; Mundy, N & Osorio D (2003) The effect of colour vision status on the detection and selection of fruits by tamarins (Saguinus spp.). Journal of Experimental Biology 206: 3159-3165
Surridge, A; Smith, AC; Mundy, N & Buchanan-Smith, HM (2002) Single-copy nuclear DNA sequences obtained from non-invasively collected primate feces. American Journal of Primatology. 56 (3): 185-190.
Conference papers:
Smith, AC; Buchanan-Smith, HM; Surridge, A; Prescot, MJ; Osorio, D & Mundy, N (2010) The effect of colour vision status on prey capture by captive and wild tamarins (Saguinus Spp.). The XXIIIth Congress of the International Primatological Society, Kyoto.
Buchanan-Smith, HM, Smith AC, Surridge AK, Prescott MJ, Osorio D, Mundy NI. The effect of sex and colour vision status on prey capture by captive and wild tamarins (Saguinus spp.). XXVIII Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists, Portland, OR, USA. 2005
Surridge AK, Suarez SS, Buchanan-Smith HM, Smith AC, & Mundy NI (2004) Distribution of colour vision phenotypes in wild tamarins. The XXth Congress of the International Primatological Society, Taurino, Italy.
Smith AC; Buchanan-Smith H., Surridge A., & Mundy N. (2004) Effects of colour vision on group spread within wild mixed-species troops of tamarins (Saguinus fuscicollis and Saguinus mystax) The XXth Congress of the International Primatological Society, Taurino, Italy.
Smith AC (2004) From The Amazon to Northern Ireland: Unravelling the Mysteries of Primate Colour Vision. Rank Prize Symposium: The Assessment of Foodstuffs by the Eye and by Instrumentation. Kendal, UK
Buchanan-Smith, HM; Smith, AC; Surridge, A; Mundy, N & Osorio, D (2003) Colour vision and cognition in primates. Primate Society of Great Britain, spring meeting - St Andrew's.
Vorobyev, M; Smith, AC; Buchanan-Smith, HM; Osorio, D & Cronin TW (2003) Fruits, flowers and origins of primate trichromacy. Australian Neuroscience Meeting.
Smith, AC; Buchanan-Smith, HM; Surridge, A; Mundy, N & Osorio, D (2002) The effect of colour vision status on the detection and selection of fruits by tamarins (Saguinus spp.). Primate Society of Great Britain, spring meeting - Oxford.
Buchanan-Smith, HM; Smith, AC; Prescott, MJ; Surridge, A; Mundy, N & Osorio, D (2002) The effect of colour vision phenotype on foraging success in tamarins (Saguinus) spp. The XIXth Congress of the International Primatological Society, Beijing, China.
Smith, AC; Buchanan-Smith, HM; Surridge, A & Mundy, N (2001) Colour blindness: An advantage for prey capture in primates? Primate Society of Great Britain, spring meeting - Bolton.
Smith, AC; Buchanan-Smith, HM; Surridge, A & Mundy, N (2001) Does colour vision genotype affect insect capture in tamarins? The XVIII Congress of the International Primatological Society - Adelaide, Australia.
Smith, AC; Buchanan-Smith, HM & Prescott, MJ (2001) Sex differences in prey capture by tamarins. The XVIII Congress of the International Primatological Society - Adelaide, Australia.
Smith, AC; Buchanan-Smith, HM; Surridge, A & Mundy, N (2001) Wild Eyes; camouflage, prey capture and colour vision in primates. Scottish Conference on Animal Behaviour - Edinburgh.
Surridge, A.K., Buchanan-Smith, H.M. Smith, A.C., Prescott, M.J. & Mundy, N.I. (2001) Genetic polymorphism at the opsin locus - colour vision and foraging ability in New World primates. Photopigments, Colour Vision and Evolution Meeting.
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