Evolution of human colour vision as 'visual purple' receptor proteins, are encoded by Rh1, OPN2 and RHO genes. They are characterized by extreme sensitivity to light and enable monochromatic human vision in low light or dim conditions. They are broken down into retinal and opsin when exposed to these conditions. Humans have 3 types of photopsin proteins found in the cone cells. Long Wavelength Sensitive Opsin (Red cone opsin) – Encoded by the OPN1LW gene with a λmax of 560 that is found in the yellow-green electromagnetic spectrum despite its name. Its sensitivity to the colour red is still known to be higher than the
Evolution of human colour vision Evolution of human colour vision Evolution of human colour vision over time: humans ("homo sapiens") have developed a trichromatic view of the world in comparison to a majority of other mammals that only see the world from a dichromatic view. Early human ancestors are believed to have viewed the world using UV vision as far back as 90 million years ago. It is thought that the shift to trichromatic vision capabilities and the ability to see blue light have evolved as an adaptive trait over time. It is believed that due to a number of environmental factors, ancestral humans lived