“How animals see us”

07 May, 2019

Different animals have different kinds of color vision. Some have very poor colour vision and others have very good color vision. In fact some birds and bees have super colour vision and can see colors that humans don't see. Some examples of these animals are monkeys, ground squirrels, birds, insects and different varieties of fish. This good colour vision helps the animal to see and  find food on the land or in the water. For land animals, good colour vision helps to tell the difference between ripe which are red fruits and unripe which are green fruits. Colours can also make animals more attractive to each other when they mate. Finally the ability to see colours help the animals to identify predators and the human beings who try to hunt them. Some animals also have a good vision which helps them to see in the dark. Owls and other nocturnal animals can see at night when it is too dark outside. Recently, scientists have discovered the first animal that can see some colours even under very dim lighting. It's the gekco and it can tell blue from grey! It's possible that frog might also have seen some colours when it's dark. No one can tell that how animals see are colours, but scientists can examine the colours inside the eyes and estimate what colours an animal sees. Through our creative minds we want to know more about the animals. One of the ways to determine the colour vision is “microspectrophotometry”. This process analyses the visual pigments and photosensitivity of cells in order to determine how and what colours an animal sees. “None of us can resist thinking that we can imagine what another animal is thinking,” says Thomas Cronin, a professor at the University of Maryland who studies visual physiology. But while guessing animals’ thoughts is a fantasy, looking at the world through their eyes is possible.

 

Name: Dhriti

Class: VIII