Color discrimination in Tamias striatus.

Abstract

Grey Squirrels, Sciurus carolinensis, have been shown to have dichromatic color vision, which they use while foraging. This may assist them in selecting and recognizing higher quality food sources while minimizing energy exerted. Although Grey Squirrel vision has been researched, to our knowledge nothing is known about the color vision of the Eastern Chipmunk, Tamias striatus. In addition to helping a chipmunk recognize a food source, the ability to recognize color may also help a chipmunk to identify and avoid predators. We proposed that chipmunks could distinguish color. To investigate this hypothesis, we conditioned a chipmunk to choose a red cup preferentially over a blue cup by offering a reward in the red cup. We predicted that after conditioning, a chipmunk would continue to select the red cup even after random positioning of the two dishes. Furthermore, we predicted that if we switched the color of the cup the reward was in, the chipmunk would still choose the red cup.