Skip to main content

Do cats see in black and white like dogs do?

It's a misconception that either cats or dogs see in black and white. They can't perceive the same range of colors that we do, but they do perceive some colors.


Color vision depends on how many types of cone cells you have in your eye. Animals with four (like birds) are called tetrachromats. They see the broadest range of colors. Animals with three are called trichromats. They include humans, apes, and Old World Monkeys.


Cats and dogs, like many other placental mammals, are dichromats. They have two types of cone. That's very different from having only one type of cone (which is the case for monochromats, like whales and owl monkeys). In experiments testing color discrimination (including a new study conducted in 2016), both cats and dogs have performed in ways that suggest their perception is similar to that of a human deuteuranope. In this condition, a person can see yellow-greens and blue, but not red. Reds and oranges are perceived as being olive or yellow-green.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is 'efficate' a word in English?

I routinely hear the word "efficate" being used. For example, "The most powerful way to efficate a change in the system is to participate." I do not find entries for this word in common English dictionaries, but I do not have an unabridged dictionary. I have checked the OED (I'm not sure if it is considered unabridged), and it has no entry for "efficate". It does have an entry for "efficiate", which is used in the same way. Wordnik has an entry for "efficate" with over 1800 hits, thus providing some evidence for the frequency of use. I personally like the word and find the meaning very clear and obvious when others use it. If it's not currently an "officially documented" word, perhaps its continued use will result in it being better documented.
Post a Comment
Read more