Detecção de predadores por dicromatas e tricromatas humanos e a sua implicação na evolução da visão de cores em primatas

• Ano de defesa: 2012
• Autor(a) principal: Moraes, Pedro Zurvaino Palmeira Melo Rosa de
• Orientador(a): Pessoa, Daniel Marques de Almeida
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte
• Programa de Pós-Graduação: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicobiologia
• Departamento: Estudos de Comportamento; Psicologia Fisiológica
• País: BR
• Palavras-chave em Português: Risco de predação; Evolução humana; Catarrhini; Platyrrhini; Ecologia visual; Daltonismo
• Palavras-chave em Inglês: Predation risk; Human evolution; Catarrhini; Platyrrhini; Visual ecology; Color blindness
• Área do conhecimento CNPq: CNPQ::CIENCIAS BIOLOGICAS::BIOLOGIA GERAL
• Link de acesso: https://repositorio.ufrn.br/jspui/handle/123456789/17334

Among placental mammals, primates are the only ones to present trichromatic color vision. However, the distribution of trichromacy among primates is not homogeneous: Old World primates shows an uniform trichromacy (with all individuals being trichromats) and New World primates exhibit a color vision polymorphism (with dichromatic males and dichromatic or trichromatic females). Visual ecology studies have investigated which selective pressures may have been responsible for the evolution of trichromacy in primates, diverging from the dichromat standard found in other mammals. Cues associated with foraging and the socio-reproductive status were analyzed, indicating a trichromatic advantage for the rapid detection of visually conspicuous objects against a green background. However, dichromats are characterized by an efficient capture of cryptic and camouflaged stimuli. These advantages regarding phenotype may be responsible for the maintenance of the visual polymorphism in New World primates and for the high incidence of color blindness in humans (standing around 8% in Caucasian men). An important factor that has not yet been experimentally taken into account is the predation risk and its effect on the evolution of trichromacy in primates. To answer this question, we prepared and edited pictures of animals with different coats: oncillas (Leopardus spp.), puma (Puma concolor) and ferret (Galictis cuja). The specimens were taxidermized and the photographs were taken in three different vegetation scenarios (dense forest, cerrado and grassland). The images of the predators were manipulated so that they fit into two categories of stimulus size (small or large). After color calibration and photo editing, these were presented to 40 humans (20 dichromats and 20 trichromats) by a computer program, which presented a set of four photos at a time (one picture containing the taxidermized animal amid the background vegetation and three depicting only the background vegetation) and recorded the response latency and success rate of the subjects. The results show a trichromatic advantage in detecting potential predators. The predator detection was influenced by the background, the predator species, the dimension of the stimulus and the observer s visual phenotype. As humans have a high rate of dyschromatopsias, when compared to wild Catarrhini or human tribal populations, it is possible that the increased rate of dichromats is a result of reduced pressure for rapid predator detection. Since our species came to live in more cohesive groups and resistant to attack by predators, with the advent of agriculture and the formation of villages, it is possible that the lower risk of predation has reduced the selection in favor of trichromats