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Photopigment basis for dichromatic color vision in cows, goats, and sheep
G H Jacobs1, J F Deegan, J Neitz
1Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara 93106, USA.
Visual Neuroscience
|July 31, 1998
Abstract:
Electroretinogram (ERG) flicker photometry was used to measure the spectral properties of cones in three common ungulates-cattle (Bos taurus), goats (Capra hircus), and sheep (Ovis aries). Two cone mechanisms were identified in each species. The location of peak sensitivity of an S-cone mechanism varied from about 444 to 455 nm for the three species; analogous values for an M/L-cone were tightly clumped at about 552-555 nm. Each of these three species has the requisite photopigment basis for dichromatic color vision and they are, thus, similar to other ungulates examined earlier.