Gecko Eyes Make Great Night Vision Cameras – icr.org

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“One more marvel of design in nature.”  Admin

Certain gecko lizards can see color in dim light. That means these geckos’ eyes are about 350 times more sensitive than human eyes, which see only black and white in the same conditions. Can evolution account for the origin of the remarkable machinery that enables these nocturnal creatures to see so well?

Scientists studying the helmet gecko’s eyes found distinct concentric zones, each with a different refractive power. Geckos also have a much higher density of oversized cone cells in their retinas that are responsible for detecting specific light wavelengths. In their study published in the Journal of Vision, the researchers found that together, these zones and cones form a “multifocal optical system.” Furthermore, the refractive powers of their lens array “is of the same magnitude as needed to focus light of the wavelength range to which gecko photoreceptors are most sensitive.”1 Thus, the various parts of this gecko’s eyes are finely tuned to work together, allowing the animal to sharply focus on at least two different depth fields at the same time.

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