According to researchers, the dinosaurs had color vision “bird type”.
Genetics from Cambridge University in the UK found evidence that dinosaurs may have color vision.
Scientists have found that birds and turtles that have a common ancestor with the dinosaurs of the Mesozoic era, have a gene responsible for the synthesis of red pigment in the retina of the eye. Article researchers published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
The gene, called CYP2J19, allows birds and turtles to convert yellow pigments entering the organism with food, in red. The resulting compounds are used by animals to enhance color vision in the red region of the spectrum. Some birds and several species of turtles these pigments also form the color of the beak, feathers, spots on the neck and the rim of the shell. Scientists have reconstructed the evolutionary history of the gene CYP2J19 on the basis of genomic data of different species of birds and reptiles. It turned out that it dates back to Archelosaur — ancestors of turtles, birds and dinosaurs.
Researchers believe that the gene CYP2J19 was also present in the dinosaurs that it is to distinguish red hues. Biologists also believe that this pigment could be used to create colour individual parts of the body, however, scientists recognize that this assumption is speculative.
In the structure of the retina of birds and turtles are cone-shaped photoreceptor cells which contain oil drops green, yellow and red. The last function like filters on the camera lens, passing light of a specific wavelength. Animals with gene CYP2J19, thus, are able to see many shades between scarlet and crimson flowers.
