Data for: Evolutionary history limits species' ability to match color sensitivity to available habitat light

The spectrum of light that an animal sees – from ultraviolet to far red
light – is governed by the number and wavelength sensitivity of a family
of retinal proteins called opsins. It has been hypothesized that the
spectrum of light available in an environment influences the range of
colors that a species has evolved to see. However, invertebrates and
vertebrates use phylogenetically distinct opsins in their retinae, and it
remains unclear whether these distinct opsins influence what animals see,
or how they adapt to their light environments. Systematically utilizing
published visual sensitivity data from across animal phyla, we found that
terrestrial animals are more sensitive to shorter and longer wavelengths
of light than aquatic animals, and that invertebrates are more sensitive
to shorter wavelengths of light than vertebrates. Controlling for
phylogeny removes the effects of habitat and lineage on visual
sensitivity. Closed and open habitat terrestrial species have similar
spectral sensitivities when comparing across the Metazoa, and deep water
animals are more sensitive to shorter wavelengths of light than shallow
water animals. Our results suggest that animals do adapt to their light
environment, however the invertebrate-vertebrate evolutionary divergence
has limited the degree to which animals can perform visual tuning.