Asher Kelman
OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Steve Robinson's images of a wolf snaking along past brush shows the disadvantage some hapless creature might have as the wolf approaches undetected. So I wondered what adaptions do animals have to survive on both side of this eating frenzy.
I discovered some interesting info on the Wiki:
Many animals have a tissue layer called the tapetum lucidum in the back of the eye that reflects light back through the retina, increasing the amount of light available for it to capture. This is found in many nocturnal animals and some deep sea animals, and is the cause of eyeshine. Humans lack a tapetum lucidum.
Nocturnal mammals have rods with unique properties that make enhanced night vision possible. The nuclear pattern of their rods changes shortly after birth to become inverted. In contrast to contemporary rods, inverted rods have heterochromatin in the center of their nuclei and euchromatin and other transcription factors along the border. In addition, the outer nuclear layer (ONL) in nocturnal mammals is thick due to the millions of rods present to process the lower light intensities of a few photons. Rather than being scattered, the light is passed to each nucleus individually.[3] In fact, an animal's ability to see in low light levels may be similar to what humans see when using first- or perhaps second-generation image intensifiers. Source
Still, I'd have though that herbivores would want to use infrared vision to be able to see though the wolf's disguise! Then the Wolf would hope to get that technology too. Did it happen in any biological fight for survival?
Asher
I discovered some interesting info on the Wiki:
Many animals have a tissue layer called the tapetum lucidum in the back of the eye that reflects light back through the retina, increasing the amount of light available for it to capture. This is found in many nocturnal animals and some deep sea animals, and is the cause of eyeshine. Humans lack a tapetum lucidum.
Nocturnal mammals have rods with unique properties that make enhanced night vision possible. The nuclear pattern of their rods changes shortly after birth to become inverted. In contrast to contemporary rods, inverted rods have heterochromatin in the center of their nuclei and euchromatin and other transcription factors along the border. In addition, the outer nuclear layer (ONL) in nocturnal mammals is thick due to the millions of rods present to process the lower light intensities of a few photons. Rather than being scattered, the light is passed to each nucleus individually.[3] In fact, an animal's ability to see in low light levels may be similar to what humans see when using first- or perhaps second-generation image intensifiers. Source
Still, I'd have though that herbivores would want to use infrared vision to be able to see though the wolf's disguise! Then the Wolf would hope to get that technology too. Did it happen in any biological fight for survival?
Asher