So, this may not be news, but I thought it was interesting. Here is the story:

Not too long ago, my breeders saved a glider that was involved in a car accident. His owner was the driver, who unfortunately didn't make it, and the glider, though injured, has since recovered and will have a chance at finding a new forever home soon.

In any case, during the accident, the glider was in a bonding pouch. After his recovery, in order to socialize him, my breeders tried to put him in a bonding pouch, not surprisingly, the glider was terrified of it, hiding and running from it, or crabbing or lunging at it; understandable given the traumatizing experience he had while being zipped inside one of these. BUT, there is another thing my breeders found that this glider seems to be afraid of, and that is anything that is colored red, which was also related to his accident, being how his bonding pouch was red.

At the time, I did not think much about his ability to perceived the color red, but during a conversation with another glider owner, he mentioned how his gliders seem to prefer red stuff (food and toys). So far, I had been in the assumption that gliders, being nocturnal, could only see in black and white, like most other animals in this category; but these 2 cases (the glider in the accident and my friend's gliders) seemed to point out that I could be wrong, and so I looked it up. This is what I found:

"It is thought that Gliders see the color red, and everything else is in shades of black and white similar to an old movie. The reason Gliders see only the color red, is due to the number of cones in the eye that make up what colors are seen and whats not. The rods are what are responsible for the blacks and whites... the cones... they come in three varieties... red, blue, and green. From what I understand, Gliders only have the cones responsible for seeing reds. The ability to see colors is relatively rare among vertebrates. Humans and other primates see in color, but most other mammals do not....some animals can see some colors but not all colors.

*New info (2005): Its now suggested through one study in Western Australia, that Marsupials CAN see in color. It is suspected that ALL marsupials can see in color somewhat, from close microscopic looks at the cone cells at the top of the retina and the rear of the eyes of two different marsupial species."

The link is below:

bmxglider.tripod.com/ogueyes.html

So YAY for our gliders, because I always thought that a world in black and white would be a boring one!

Anyways, sorry for the long post, I just wanted to share.

Good one, Rusty. That is very interesting. When I was a kid and first found out that dogs saw in black and white I was stunned. I too thought something to the effect of, "how boring". But, I guess if they don't know what they're missing...???

I don't think sugar gliders can see colors. Because they are nocturnal they mostlikley just see black and white, its vary rare that nocturnal animals can see color

Blue, I agree that if they don't know what they're missing they can hardly miss it. I just found it a very interesting discovery since that would make marsupials the only other mammals that can see in color aside from primates.

Brynn_Schubert, I was of the same opinion as you, that's why I researched it. The link I posted was a short one that gave a simple, yet complete answer. Below is a link that comments on 2 studies done regarding the vision of marsupials:

www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2005/03/28/1332458.htm

The first study was done on quokkas (Setonix brachyurus) and quendas (Isoodon obesulus), from it the Dr. in charge theorized that the ability to perceived colors extended to all marsupials.

A second study done on fat-tailed dunnarts (Sminthopsis crassicaudata) and honey possums (Tarsipes rostratus), which are distant marsupial relatives of the quokka and quenda, revealed that they can also see in full color. From these findings it is safe to say that all marsupials can see in color.

Yes, the test hasn't been done specifically on gliders. But if you research it, a lot of glider owners have reported that their gliders exhibit behaviors that could indicate that they can perceive colors (gliders seem to be very akin of red in particular).

I would also like to comment that reptiles and birds can see in color. As expected, diurnal birds and reptiles have a high quantity of cones, while nocturnal ones have less cones and a greater number of rods; they may not perceive color as well, but they still can see it.

Sorry if this is too long, I am a nerd at hear (if it wasn't already obvious )