| Title |
Tetrachromacy, oil droplets and bird plumage colours
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Journal of Comparative Physiology A, November 1998
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s003590050286 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
M. Vorobyev, D. Osorio, A. T. D. Bennett, N. J. Marshall, I. C. Cuthill |
| Abstract |
There is a growing body of data on avian eyes, including measurements of visual pigment and oil droplet spectral absorption, and of receptor densities and their distributions across the retina. These data are sufficient to predict psychophysical colour discrimination thresholds for light-adapted eyes, and hence provide a basis for relating eye design to visual needs. We examine the advantages of coloured oil droplets, UV vision and tetrachromacy for discriminating a diverse set of avian plumage spectra under natural illumination. Discriminability is enhanced both by tetrachromacy and coloured oil droplets. Oil droplets may also improve colour constancy. Comparison of the performance of a pigeon's eye, where the shortest wavelength receptor peak is at 410 nm, with that of the passerine Leiothrix, where the ultraviolet-sensitive peak is at 365 nm, generally shows a small advantage to the latter, but this advantage depends critically on the noise level in the sensitivity mechanism and on the set of spectra being viewed. |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 443 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 10 | 2% |
| Germany | 4 | <1% |
| Spain | 3 | <1% |
| Brazil | 3 | <1% |
| Chile | 1 | <1% |
| Italy | 1 | <1% |
| Panama | 1 | <1% |
| Austria | 1 | <1% |
| Malaysia | 1 | <1% |
| Other | 8 | 2% |
| Unknown | 410 | 93% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 104 | 23% |
| Researcher | 94 | 21% |
| Student > Master | 63 | 14% |
| Student > Bachelor | 49 | 11% |
| Professor | 21 | 5% |
| Other | 67 | 15% |
| Unknown | 45 | 10% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 284 | 64% |
| Environmental Science | 29 | 7% |
| Neuroscience | 11 | 2% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 10 | 2% |
| Physics and Astronomy | 7 | 2% |
| Other | 36 | 8% |
| Unknown | 66 | 15% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 8. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 08 December 2023.
All research outputs
#4,499,159
of 26,017,215 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Comparative Physiology A
#272
of 1,577 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#5,185
of 42,542 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Comparative Physiology A
#2
of 8 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 26,017,215 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 81st percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,577 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 8.9. This one has done well, scoring higher than 82% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 42,542 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 86% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 8 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has scored higher than 6 of them.