Data from: Color discrimination in the tufted capuchin monkey, Sapajus spp.

The present study evaluated the efficacy of an adapted version of the
Mollon-Reffin test for the behavioral investigation of color vision in
capuchin monkeys. Ten tufted capuchin monkeys (Sapajus spp., formerly
referred to as Cebus apella) had their DNA analyzed and were characterized
as the following: one trichromat female, seven deuteranope dichromats (six
males and one female), and two protanope males, one of which was
identified as an “ML protanope.” For their behavioral characterization,
all of the subjects were tested at three regions of the Commission
International de l'Eclairage (CIE) 1976 u′v′ diagram, with each test
consisting of 20 chromatic variation vectors that were radially
distributed around the chromaticity point set as the test background. The
phenotypes inferred from the behavioral data were in complete agreement
with those predicted from the genetic analysis, with the threshold
distribution clearly differentiating between trichromats and dichromats
and the estimated confusion lines characteristically converging for
deuteranopes and the “classic” protanope. The discrimination pattern of
the ML protanope was intermediate between protan and deutan, with
confusion lines horizontally oriented and parallel to each other. The
observed phenotypic differentiation confirmed the efficacy of the
Mollon-Reffin test paradigm as a useful tool for evaluating color
discrimination in nonhuman primates. Especially noteworthy was the
demonstration of behavioral segregation between the “classic” and “ML”
protanopes, suggesting identifiable behavioral consequences of even slight
variations in the spectral sensitivity of M/L photopigments in dichromats.