Amazing Facts: Frogs and Toads Adapt Unique ‘Supervision’ That Sees Color In The Dark

Frogs and toads have adapted an amazing ability that is superior to all other animals. They have this superb night vision that has been able to perceive colors even in deep darkness where humans are not able to see anything at all.

Majority of backboned species, including humans, have two types of visual cells in the retina. These photoreceptive cells are called rods and cones.

According to Nature, cones are the ones that enable the eyes to see color; however, they require an abundant amount of light. The cones stop functioning in low-light. In dark conditions, the rods take over with the sight, which is why the eyes are still able to see but in black and white.

The case of toads and frogs are a bit special, they were previously known to have a unique pair of rods that have two different sensitivities. It is also the reason why researchers suspect that frogs and toads might be able to see color in low-light conditions.

A research conducted at Lund University proved that frogs are able to use their rods to distinguish color in extreme darkness. The researchers studied the frogs in common serious situations like when they need to find their way out in complete darkness and when they search for food or a potential mate.

The results showed that the frogs and toads stopped using their color information when it comes to finding a mate, whereas, they continue to take advantage of their color vision in selecting food in such low-light conditions.

Professor of Sensory Biology, AlmutKelber at the Faculty of Science, Lund University said, "It's amazing that these animals can actually see color in extreme darkness, down to the absolute threshold of the visual system. These results were unexpected."

"We have previously shown moths and geckos are also able to see colour in inferior light conditions compared to humans. However, frogs apparently have a unique ability to see color in the dark", added Professor AlmutKelber.