Chameleon Eyes
Chameleon, (Photo credit, somepets.com)
This week, as you probably guessed, I am going to inform you on Chameleon eyes. It is widely believed that chameleons can look in two different directions at the same time, well, this turns out be only partially true. Chameleons can scan their surroundings for danger or prey, but they cannot focus in two different directions. When they hunt, they must look at their prey with both eyes before striking. One thing that the chameleon has going for it are negative lens, meaning that the lens in their eyes are concave. This increases the retinal image size, allowing more precise focusing. In fact, image magnification in chameleons is higher in a scaled comparison than all other vertebrate’s eyes. While the lens is negative, the cornea is positive or convex. This also contributes to precise focusing by improving sight resolution in a narrower field of vision. When you think about it, Chameleons don’t really need long range vision. They usually live in an environment rich with bugs anyway, so they don’t need to look a long ways for their next meal. And let’s face it. They’re too slow to get out of the way of a swooping bird anyway.
To see some lizard with their eyes facing different directions, click here to watch my video.
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