Do Dogs See Color?

张一帆

Your eyes pick up color using a type of cell called cones in your retina. The same is true for dogs，though our cones aren't exactly the same.

Humans have three types of cones，“which enables us to see different shades of red，blue-violet，and green，”says Alison Meindl，DVM，a veterinarian，and professor at Colorado State University.

Dogs have two types of cones that pick up blue- violet and yellow shades，says Lara Sypniewski，DVM，a professor of small animal medicine at Oklahoma State University.

This means that dogs see in a similar way to humans who are red- green colorblind. “They don't see red or green and they see everything in shades of blue and yellow，”says Jay Neitz，Phd，a researcher and professor of ophthalmology at the University of Washington.

Humans may have the advantage in color vision，but dogs definitely have us beat in the realm of night vision. This is because dog's eyes have more light-gathering power than ours，Neitz says.

A dog's retina is largely composed of cells called rods，which can sense light，even in very low-light conditions，says Sypniewski.

人类的眼睛通过视网膜的视锥细胞感知颜色，狗也是如此，但两者的视锥细胞并不完全相同。

科罗拉多州立大学教授、兽医学博士、兽医艾莉森·梅恩德称，人类有三种视锥细胞，“因此我们能够看到不同深浅的红色、蓝紫色和绿色。”

俄克拉何马州立大学小型动物医学教授、兽医临床医生拉腊·西普尼夫斯基称，狗有两种视锥细胞，可以分辨蓝紫色和黄色。

这意味着狗的视觉与红绿色盲的人相似。华盛顿大学眼科教授、研究员杰伊·内茨博士称，“狗看不见红色或绿色，但能看到所有蓝黄色调的颜色。”

人类在色觉方面可能有优势，但狗的夜视能力肯定比人类强。内茨说，这是因為狗的眼睛比人的眼睛更能聚光。

西普尼夫斯基说，狗的视网膜主要由视杆细胞组成，即使在光线很弱的情况下，视杆细胞也能感知光线。