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The Eye of the Tiger, Insight into the Eyesight of Animals


Siegfried and Roy’s white tiger dazzled us with its magic. Shamu, the famous killer white whale at Sea World dances upon the water to the amazement of crowds, and who can forget Benji or Lassie as childhood heroes. Have you ever explored the fascinating world of animal vision? Who wins the prize for the the most advanced visual species of the animal or insect kingdom? The results may surprise you.

We all agree that birds of prey (hawks, eagles, falcons etc.) have the best bionics hands down but have you ever considered the vision of the colossal squid, or the dragon fly, the ogre spider or mantis shrimp?

The colossal squid has an eye larger than any sea animal: it's the size of a basketball! The squid’s eyes and 3-D vision are so astute so that they can spy whales that would be predatory to them.

The dragon fly has incredible vision, better than any other insect. Take for instance the common house fly who has around 6,000 eye facets that give them an astounding panoramic view of the world. Amazingly, dragonflies have 5 times more eye facets than houseflys, giving them 30,000 units of panoramic viewing. With this skill, they can predict where their prey will be and get there before the other insect does, thus the dragon fly comes in as a leader of all insects in the "amazing vision contest“!

Consider the ogre spider next. The ogre spider, out of all other spiders has this unique feature: two large posterior facing eyes with six smaller eyes to see prey even in the dark. It's huge eyes have outstanding night vision, in fact, about 2000 times better than most spiders! This unique portrayal of night vision gives it the edge over many other species in hunting prey.

So how about the mantis shrimp? How can a shrimp have good eyesight you ask? They have the number one most complex visual system of any species known to man. Literally hi-definition vision! They have compound eyes with 16 photoreceptors (humans have 3) and they see all colors of the spectrum including UV and singular & circular polarized light.

This is like an electric 3-D light show on steroids! There is ongoing research on how they can see 3-D with only one eye and how they communicate visually.

Keys to researching different species vision may on day unlock mysteries into the human eye. Only the future will tell what nature may unlock for future vision breakthroughs.

Keep your eye on the tiger and other species for more vision breakthroughs in the future!

 

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Ask Dr. Stewart Your Eye Care Questions

What can be expected during a contact lens fitting?

A patient can expect to have a different experience when having a contact lens fitting. In addition to the eyeglass exam, questions will be asked to determine which contact lens will work best for them. Will they want to leave the lenses in their eyes overnight or will they remove them every day? Will they wear them only occasionally or will they be for everyday use? Do they want a contact lens that they throw away every day or do they want a contact lens that they have to clean and disinfect? If the patient is over age 40 and has a compromised ability to see up close, how will they see up close with their contact lenses? Will they wear readers over their distant contacts, or will they wear multifocal contacts, or will they wear monovision?

Are some people more prone to having Dry Eyes than others?

Experiencing dry eye symptoms is more common as we grow older, particularly in people 50 years of age and older. Hormonal changes in women who are experiencing menopause or who are post-menopausal. Inflammation in our body can affect the tear gland's ability to produce tears. Eye or health conditions such as glaucoma, diabetes, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and Sjogren's Syndrome can be associated with Dry Eyes. Environmental conditions such as dry winter air, dry indoor heated air, working on the computer, and wearing contact lenses can cause Dry Eyes.

Are there advantages to single-use contact lenses? What are they?

Single-use daily wear contacts are convenient to the patient and a healthy recommendation from their eye doctor. At the end of the day, the patient only has to dispose of the contacts. There is no need to take the contacts out to clean and disinfect them. The patients time and money spent on solutions and caring for them are eliminated. Not to mention that the next time they wear a contact, they will be wearing a brand new contact! The single best recommendation your eye doctor can make is to recommend single-use daily wear contacts. They are the healthiest contact that can be worn. The contact lens pathology issues of wearing the same contact for two or four weeks such as neovascularization, microcystic edema, and bacterial infections are greatly reduced.

What is an eye infection?

Your eyes can get infections from bacteria, fungi, or viruses. Eye infections can occur in different parts of the eye and can affect just one eye or both. Two common eye infections are conjunctivitis (also known as pink eye) and lid styes which are swollen lid bumps that can also be painful. Common signs of an eye infection are pain, itching, or a sensation of a foreign body in the eye, photosensitivity, redness or small red lines in the white of the eye, discharge of yellow pus that may be crusty upon awaking, and tears.

What happens during a typical Diabetic Eye Exam?

Your Eye Doctor will evaluate the back of your eye called the Retina to check for leaking blood vessels. Diabetic retinopathy occurs when elevated blood sugars damage the walls of the blood vessels. The vessel walls may thicken, leak, develop clots, close off, or grow balloon-like defects called microaneurysms.

My eyes tear all the time. Why do you call it Dry Eyes?

Your eyes have extra tears because your eyes produce extra tears to combat irritation and dryness. A better way to describe Dry Eyes is tear film instability, which refers to the composition of your tears not being in the proper composition. Stopping eyes from producing extra tears is a goal in the treatment of Dry Eyes.

At what age should my child have his/her eyes examined?

If you ask 10 different Doctors you will get 10 different answers. Newborns have their eyes checked in the birthing ward for starters. From birth to age 5 their eyes are growing. At age 5 is a good time to schedule a regular eye examination, however, if any unusual eye behavior is observed under age 5 an eye exam should be scheduled at that time. Unusual eye behavior such as eye squinting, a head tilt, or having to get close to see.