歐洲研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)一種神奇“四眼魚(yú)”,，它的其中一對(duì)眼睛擁有類似反射鏡的物質(zhì),，可以幫助它在深海中更好地看清天敵所在位置,。
這項(xiàng)刊登在《當(dāng)代生物學(xué)》雜志上的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，“四眼魚(yú)”其中一對(duì)眼睛中含有晶狀體，另一對(duì)朝下的眼睛中含有一種與反射鏡功能相同的物質(zhì),。光線進(jìn)入這對(duì)眼睛后會(huì)被反射到視網(wǎng)膜上,，幫助“四眼魚(yú)”看清它下方的物體。
英國(guó)布里斯托爾大學(xué)教授尤利安·帕特里奇說(shuō),，黑暗中,，帶有“反射鏡”的眼睛看東西更有效率。因?yàn)楫?dāng)光線經(jīng)過(guò)時(shí),，含有晶狀體的眼睛吸收的光線有限,，而“反射鏡”能夠把更多的光線反射到視網(wǎng)膜上。這樣,，當(dāng)海中天敵在黑暗中經(jīng)過(guò)時(shí),，“反射鏡”能更有效地預(yù)警“四眼魚(yú)”。
英國(guó)《泰晤士報(bào)》8日援引科學(xué)家的話說(shuō),，“四眼魚(yú)”是迄今唯一一種眼睛中帶有“反射鏡”的脊椎動(dòng)物,。
“在脊椎動(dòng)物近5億年的進(jìn)化過(guò)程中，數(shù)以千計(jì)的動(dòng)物出生,、死亡,，”帕特里奇說(shuō)，“這種‘四眼魚(yú)’的發(fā)現(xiàn)解答了一個(gè)根本的視覺(jué)問(wèn)題,，即如何利用‘反射鏡’在視網(wǎng)膜上成像,。這是一種神奇的動(dòng)物，在脊椎動(dòng)物中絕對(duì)獨(dú)一無(wú)二,。眼睛中的‘反射鏡’可以幫助它形成更鮮明圖像,。”
早在120年前，人們就已經(jīng)得知這種“四眼魚(yú)”的存在,，但一直不知道它眼睛的奧妙,，直到德國(guó)蒂賓根大學(xué)教授漢斯—約阿希姆·瓦格納18個(gè)月前捕獲一只并首次展開(kāi)研究。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
Current Biology, 24 December 2008 doi:10.1016/j.cub.2008.11.061
A Novel Vertebrate Eye Using Both Refractive and Reflective Optics
Hans-Joachim Wagner1,Ron H. Douglas2,,,Tamara M. Frank3,Nicholas W. Roberts4,6andJulian C. Partridge5
1 Anatomisches Institut, Universit?t Tübingen, ?sterbergstrasse 3, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
2 Henry Welcome Laboratory for Vision Sciences, Department of Optometry and Visual Science, City University, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB, UK
3 Center for Ocean Exploration and Deep-Sea Research, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University, 5600 U.S. 1 N, Fort Pierce, FL 34946, USA
4 The Photon Science Institute, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
5 School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1UG, UK
6 Present address: Department of Biology, Queens University, Kingston, ONK7L 3N6, Canada
Sunlight is attenuated rapidly in the ocean, resulting in little visually useful light reaching deeper than 1000 m in even the clearest water [1]. To maximize sensitivity to the relatively brighter downwelling sunlight, to view the silhouette of animals above them, and to increase the binocular overlap of their eyes, many mesopelagic animals have developed upward-pointing tubular eyes [2,3,4]. However, these sacrifice the ability to detect bioluminescent [5] and reflective objects in other directions. Thus, some mesopelagic fish with tubular eyes extend their visual fields laterally and/or ventrally by lensless ocular diverticula, which are thought to provide unfocused images, allowing only simple detection of objects, with little spatial resolution [2,3,4]. Here, we show that a medial mirror within the ventrally facing ocular diverticulum of the spookfish, Dolichopteryx longipes, consisting of a multilayer stack derived from a retinal tapetum, is used to reflect light onto a lateral retina. The reflective plates are not orientated parallel to the surface of the mirror. Instead, plate angles change progressively around the mirror, and computer modeling indicates that this provides a well-focused image. This is the first report of an ocular image being formed in a vertebrate eye by a mirror.
