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Tag Archives: vision
Shedding Light on Non-Visual Photoreceptors
By LeeAnn Louie (Scripps College) and Vanessa Ho (Pomona College) [edited by Lars Schmitz, as part of BIOL 167 "Sensory Evolution", an upper division class at the Claremont Colleges] Photoreceptors are the receptors for visual information and thus, unsurprisingly, are … Continue reading
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Tagged photoreceptor, Platynereis, vision
Are the eyes of giant squid unusually large?
Giant squid are arguably one of the most fascinating and enigmatic marine organisms. We just don’t know much about their natural history and morphology at all, and the little that we do know makes them even more interesting: their enormous … Continue reading
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Tagged colossal squid, deep sea, evolution, eye evolution, eye size, eyes, giant squid, optical model, sperm whale, vision
Nocturnal dinosaurs, again: the strength of discriminant analysis in quantitative paleobiology
More on nocturnal dinosaurs, or, importantly, on our quantitative approach to infer ecology and behavior in fossil vertebrates. Hall et al.’s technical comment provided us with the opportunity to further explain the strength of our approach. Schmitz, L. & R. … Continue reading
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Tagged cathemeral, dinosaurs, discriminant analysis, diurnal, ecomorphology, eye shape, nocturnal, paleobiology, pFDA, phylogenetic discriminant analysis, sensitivity, vision
Ivan Schwab: “Evolution’s Witness — How Eyes Evolved”
Just a quick note: I finally received my copy of Ivan Schwab’s highly anticipated book today: “Evolution’s Witness — How Eyes Evolved” [Oxford University Press]. At first glance it impresses with absolutely stunning photos and illustrations. I also like the … Continue reading
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Tagged evolution, evolution's witness, eyes, Ivan Schwab, morphology, paleontology, sensory organs, sensory physiology, vision
The Eye of the Cambrian
Earlier this summer Lee et al. published a very nice finding in Nature: spectacular fossils of compound eyes of a marine arthropod from the Early Cambrian (~515ma) of South Australia. A summary of this paper, including photographs of the actual … Continue reading
An optical illusion?
Zooplanktivory is one of the most distinct feeding niches in coral reef fish and many morphological traits have been interpreted as adaptations to feeding on plankton in the water column above the reef. One of these traditional hypotheses is that … Continue reading
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Tagged acuity, eye evolution, eye shape, eye size, reef fish, vision, zooplanktivory
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Nocturnal dinosaurs
Nocturnal dinosaurs. Wait a second! Is that right? Nocturnal (= night-active) dinosaurs? Yes, indeed. Contrary to what was commonly believed, many dinosaurs were nocturnal. We have to change our perception of the dinosaur era. All details about methods, results, and … Continue reading
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Tagged dinosaurs, diurnal, eye shape, nocturnal, scleral rings, sensitivity, vision
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The eyes have it!
My goal is to develop this blog into an interesting resource for anyone who is interested in the evolution of eyes. In my own research I mostly focus on morphological evolution of vertebrate eyes, including reef fish, mammals, lizards, plus … Continue reading
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Tagged birds, dinosaurs, eye evolution, lizards, mammals, reef fish, vision
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