Humans can sense colors with acuity and can distinguish them because of the light of different spectrum that follows into their eyes. Not its also said that sound is different for different colors, Wouldn't this mean that during echolocation , dolphins, Bats and other animals can see colors? Please explain
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2$\begingroup$ "its also said that sound is different for different colors" - said where and by whom? $\endgroup$– Bryan Krause ♦Commented Jun 3, 2021 at 14:40
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1$\begingroup$ @Bryan Krause en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/…. $\endgroup$– Unbowed EpicureCommented Jun 3, 2021 at 15:29
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2$\begingroup$ That article has nothing to do with visual color except a modest analogy. Also has little to no relationship to echolocation sounds. "Noise" in this context isn't even necessarily related to any sort of sound, but rather to random patterns which can be in any sort of signal. $\endgroup$– Bryan Krause ♦Commented Jun 3, 2021 at 15:32
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1$\begingroup$ @Bryan Krause oof yeah you're right I should've read it better, sorry 😅 $\endgroup$– Unbowed EpicureCommented Jun 3, 2021 at 15:35
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2$\begingroup$ I’m voting to close this question because it is unclear and seems to based on a fundamental misunderstanding of a non-biological concept (color). $\endgroup$– tyersomeCommented Jun 3, 2021 at 15:38
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2 Answers
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Color is a characteristic of visible electromagnetic spectrum, see the graph here. Electromagnetic means here that it has the same nature as radio-waves, X-rays, and gamma radiation, whereas visible refers to the region of spectrum - waves of frequencies ranging from TeraHertz to PetaHerz (i.e., from $10^{12}$ Hz to $10^{15}$ Hz). Specific colors essentially refer to sub-ranges of the visible spectral range (ordered as in a rainbow).
On the other hand, sound waves, used in echolocation, are waves of material compression/decompression in air, liquid or solid, and their frequencies rarely exceed one MegaHertz (that is $10^6$ Hz, i.e., $10^6$ oscillations per second). E.g., human ears distingushes sounds in the range from $20$ Hz to $20$ kHz, whereas animal sonars use ultrasound frequencies above the human hearing threshold - from $60$ kHz to $200$ kHz (see here).
To summarize: sonar and sound have nothing to do with color perception.
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The question is based on a false premise. Humans (and other animals) perceive color because they have sensors - in the case of humans, three types of cones - that respond to different frequencies of light. "Color" is really a construct of the brain, as it interprets the intensities of the signals from the different receptors.
Sonar is more analogous to the rod visual system, used in low-light conditions where you can see things, but not distinguish their colors.
Of course an animal echolocation system (or a technological one) could potentially distinguish something analogous to color, by having receptors that respond to different sound frequencies. But the sound reflection characteristics of objects would have nothing to do with their colors. That is, a hard red surface would reflect sound differently than a soft red one.
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1$\begingroup$ Bats at least seem to have fairly sophisticated sense of texture, probably the best analog for "color vision" in this context. pnas.org/content/101/15/5670 for example $\endgroup$– Bryan Krause ♦Commented Jun 3, 2021 at 17:43
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$\begingroup$ @Bryan Krause: Interesting! I learned something new :-) $\endgroup$– jamesqfCommented Jun 4, 2021 at 4:22