Keeping an eye on you

[pavel]

Well Steve's inquiry inspired me to then use the picture in TPBM. That in turn got me thinking that perhaps it would behoove me to simply give it its own thread in case others who might have been curious might miss it.

So here is my current (as of Oct 2011) avatar:

And the million dollar question was -- "What is it?" Answer: The eye of a Strophurus assimilis -- a species of gecko native to Australia. Unfortunately, I do not actually own one of these. But saw some pictures on line and decided to use an eye. Here's a pic (not mine ... it's from the Australian National University's ScienceWise Magazine) of more of the animal:



It is quite common with geckos for their eyes to be their most beautiful and interesting feature. Most have either dull or otherwise cryptic body coloration which cause them to be overlooked.

[Kmac]

Wow!! Cool eye--I've never seen one like this.

[Cjcorner]

His grin isn't bad either....lol. I will have to aim for the eye of the anoles running around here and see if their eyes are as interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[Paph]

Just can't belive, how very interesting eye...I recently had a Leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius) in my lap, which also have an interesting eyes, but this one has unbeliveable eyes - unbeliveably beautiful!

[the dragonn]

but this one has unbeliveable eyes - unbeliveably beautiful!

Can't put it any better than that!

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Very interesting eye. Do these geckos have trouble seeing or any sight issues? Do you know why the eye of this species is evolved to this pattern? You always seem to have interesting details about the critters you post.

cheers,
BD

[pavel]

Very interesting eye. Do these geckos have trouble seeing or any sight issues? Do you know why the eye of this species is evolved to this pattern? cheers,
BD

I honestly don't know why geckos have such unusual patterns to their eyes such as this one. (The eyes of this type of gecko strike me as a neat template for Cin to use as a stepping stone design. )

But as far as eyesight goes, no they don't have any sight issues at all. Most, being mainly nocturnal, need pupils which can open wide at night but can close down tightly during the day. An issue which takes on even more importance when one considers that most geckos do not have eyelids. Rather, like snakes, most have a transparent scale referred to as a "brille" or "spectacle" to protect the eye from mechanical damage. And like another group of animals known for excellant night vision -- the cat family -- most geckos have pupils that are vertical slits. In many geckos, this pupil is taken a step farther and is actually a zigzagged slit. This enables their pupils to be closed down to allow only a few pinpoints of light to enter the eyes so their sensitive eyes are not overwhelmed by harsh daylight. To further elaborate as to how good their eyesight is (in nocturnal species -- diurnal ones are a different story), these animals can discriminate between colors even in dim moonlight whereas we humans cannot. The eyes of at least some of these nocturnal gecko species is estimated to be almost 350 times stronger than ours when it comes to seeing color.

[walingwaling]

gee, thats soooo fantastic!
thanks for explaining, this could be easily mistaken as a photoshopped pix.

[orchidsal]

The adaptions seem endless in nature and per your post really amazing. AL

[cdayinflorida]

It looks like a snowflake under a microscope! Just astounding.