BCS 151 Lecture Notes - Lecture 24: Pit Viper, Barn Swallow, Underwater Vision
10 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
Perception can be a fundamental limitation because if we can"t perceive it, we can"t interact with it. We compare our visions using psychophysical functions. Animals tend to have a wider range of all the senses that we do. Vision: two foveas in birds specialized for both navigating trees and looking on the ground for prey (e. g. barn swallow, underwater vision: different levels of refraction cause the cornea shape to change to better focus things. Bees also have color constancy: a change in sensitivity from red to uv. Infrared vision: links to the heat/temperature of objects relative to the environment, highly developed in pit vipers. Heat-detecting sensors are concentrated as two large pits between the nostrils and the eyes. Works like a pinhole (like a camera) Allows them to strike at warm-blooded prey in the dark: detects temperature differences as slight as 0. 003 degrees celsius up to 40cm from the head, can judge distance and direction of the target.
