🔬 Science Facts #24: Octopuses Can Change Color in 1/10 of a Second Even Though They Are Color Blind

🔬 Science Facts #24: Octopuses Can Change Color in 1/10 of a Second Even Though They Are Color Blind. Octopuses, despite being color blind, can perfectly mimic the colors and patterns of their surroundings in less than a tenth of a second — a capability that is still not fully explained by science.. One of the greatest mysteries in evolutionary biology is how octopuses — clinically color blind because they have only one type of photoreceptor in their eyes — can mimic the colors of their surroundings with astonishing accuracy for camouflage. Octopuses use three types of specialized cells in their skin to change their appearance: chromatophores pigment-containing membrane-bound cells in elastic sacs that can expand and contract within milliseconds , iridophores cells containing reflective plates that produce metallic iridescent colors through light interference , and papillae muscular skin protrusions that can change the surface texture from smooth to spiky within less than a second . This skin control system is extremely fast and precise — octopuses can change their entire body appearance in 1/10 of a second. This is faster than a human blink. More surprisingly, this control occurs through a nervous system that sends signals directly to the skin cells without going through the central brain — each part of the skin has a degree of autonomous control. The current theory on how octopuses 'see' colors even though they are color blind suggests that their unusual pupil shape 'W' or 'U'-shaped allows the use of chromatic aberration — the difference in how different colors are focused on the retina — to provide information about color. Other studies suggest the possibility of photoreceptors in the octopus's own skin that allow 'skin vision' — seeing light directly through the skin without going through the eyes.