Can Chins See Color?

[Sesame]

Just wondering... Can Chins see any color?

I recall reading something that chinchillas have more rods than cones in their retinas, so I would assume that their color vision would be impaired to some degree with the less cones part...

Anyone know? Or anyone have a chin that seems to respond to one color over another? :err:

 

[Chinniechantel]

I thought I read that they see green and blue, but maybe not other colors? I don't remember where I heard this, or even if it was a reliable source, but thought it a very interesting topic. Hopefully someone will know!

 

[Silverrose]

I have a journal article that describes the chinchilla eye. Unfortunately its not in .pdf form... But here's an excerpt from it. Maybe I can try to convert it to a .pdf file later.

Detwiler, S. R. 1949. The eye of the chinchilla (C. Lanigera). Journal of Morphology, 84:123-144.

In addition to the nocturnal features of the iris, lens, and pupil, the retina also exhibits all the characteristics of nocturnality. It is composed entirely of rods which are very attenuated (1.2-2micrometer in diameter) and closely packed. It is a receptor apparatus for scotopic vision, and it is apparent also that the rod threshods are low as evidenced by the fact that even in dim light the pupil closes quite far down.

Just fyi, rod cells within the eye have little or nothing to do with color vision, so chinchillas probably aren't very good at seeing color. They are probably only able to differentiate lighter-darker shades.