Very interesting, Lyle--- Thanks for forwarding this to the list!
Elizabeth >For complete article see: >http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20041127/fob8.asp > >Color at Night: Geckos can distinguish hues by dim moonlight > >Susan Milius >Of all the vertebrates, a gecko has just become the first to ace >behavioral >tests for seeing color in very low illumination. > >People, for example, go color-blind in light equivalent to dim >moonlight, >but helmet geckos, Tarentola chazaliae, don't. They can still tell a >blue >from a gray of the same intensity, report Lina S.V. Roth and Almut >Kelber, >both of the University of Lund in Sweden, in an upcoming Biology >Letters. > >Earlier physiology had shown that most vertebrates deploy two systems of >light-sensitive cells in their eyes. Two or more types of cone cells >work >together to sense color in abundant light, and a single type of rod cell >detects light more sensitively, but only in black and white. Thus, when >the >seeing gets tough, people forgo color vision and rely on their rods. > >Lizards, however, lack rods, presumably because they evolved for a long >period as strictly daytime creatures. > >Copyright ©2004 Science Service >-------------------- >Lyle Puente >President >Global Gecko Association > >My Brothers Banned >http://www.mybrothersbanned.com > >_______________________________________________ >Global Gecko Association >http://www.gekkota.com >Classifieds >http://www.gekkota.com/cgi-gekkota/classifieds.cgi >gecko mailing list >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >http://lists.gekkota.com/mailman/listinfo/gecko > -- Elizabeth ~~~~geckos make me smile huge~~~~ _______________________________________________ Global Gecko Association http://www.gekkota.com Classifieds http://www.gekkota.com/cgi-gekkota/classifieds.cgi gecko mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.gekkota.com/mailman/listinfo/gecko
