Why does a bull chase us when a red coloured cloth is waved in front of it? As we know of the red colour to signify anger, does it perform the same function in case of a bull? Or can the bull even recognize that the color of the cloth is red? We all are well accustomed of the fact that bats use infra sound to SEE in the dark, but what about owls? How can they locate their prey so accurately in the dark? Or a simpler question, what differentiates the vision of a nocturnal animal with that of a diurnal animal?
According to a rough estimate, a human eye, if compared with the resolution of a digital camera, is equivalent to 576 Megapixels. It can distinguish millions of different colours, while we can’t even name a couple hundred colours. These facts are about human beings, but it is human tendency that our interest always lie in things we don’t possess, and in the present case, these studies lead to the fact of knowing the visionary details of animals, What do they see, How do they see. In fact the scientists will soon be pondering up on the question that Why do they see? Well, here are details of how a few animals, birds or flies see the world.
- Dogs
Now, that is a well known myth that animals see the world in a monochrome, just like those bygone television sets, which used to show each channel in a “Black and White” colour. But that is a myth, and according to the recent studies by a few nerds in the labs of Russia, dogs do experience a visible spectrum, a smaller one as compared to that of humans, but they do have the ability to distinguish between a few colours. On a comparison to human eyes, we have the ability to detect basically four colours, red, blue, green and yellow, combination of which forms millions of colours, whereas in dogs, the ability of distinction is limited to just blue and yellow colours, making them capable of distinguishing between a few colours. Also the field of vision, that is the area covered by the eyes, is larger in case of dogs in comparison with humans.
- Flies
How many times have you wished that whatever movie was going on in front of your eyes, you could mend it to be in a slow motion. The movie maybe one in theater, or the one going on in real life. Flies enjoy this privilege. According to some recent researches, it has been found that the speed of perception by brain depends on the size of the living being. Smaller the size, slower the perception speed, so slower is the speed, things go by.
- Bulls
Wave a red cloth in front of them and then, run for your life. Whether it be Europe, or it maybe America, the beginning of a bullfight is by waving a red cloth in front of an angry bull. But what is the relation between a bull and red colour? Are they so sick of seeing this colour that they just want to tear the cloth apart? Well the truth is bulls are colourblind. They can’t even distinguish the red cloth from cloth of any other colour. Its just the waving that irritates the bull, and they just try to bang their hongs into the waving cloth. So, next time, if you are wearing a red coloured shirt, and are passing by a bull, don’t be afraid.
- Because eyes are too mainstream
No kidding, but eyes seem to be mainstream for these reptiles. Termed as the most dangerous reptiles on Earth, they don’t usually use their eyes to see. They just enjoy the glimpses of the world by sensing the heat or by the sense of smell. These reptiles are non other than our very own snakes. Studies show that snakes use infrared sensing to sense the exact distance of the prey, so that they could attack accurately. It is not the case that they can’t see. They do see the world, but the sense of smell, that also is done with their tongue instead of nose, or the sensing of infrared or heat waves overpower the sense of sight. It must be noted that the ability to sense the heat is present only in a few species of snakes. One of the situations in which, snakes use their eyes to see is in front of a snake charmer. Snakes do not have very good hearing senses, so they see the movement of the “been” or “pungi”, that is the instrument they use.
- Want to see in the dark?
It has always been a prick everyone’s head that how can a few animals/birds can manage to see in the dark? Scientific Researches have led to a few reasons, which allow nocturnal animals to have a night life. These animals usually have big eyes, which allow the entrance of a large amount of light int their eyes, which help them in seeing properly at night. The difference in the physiology of the eyes also compensate the nocturnal animals to see at night, like owls have tubular eyes, rather than conventional spherical eyes. Another reason is that they have a compound called “tapetum” behind the retina, which help these nocturnal animals, utilize most of the light available in darker regions.