Umvelt
Animal Vision
| As humans, we tend to take our mode of seeing for granted, and rarely contemplate other species' visual equipment. Many animals have vision that is more acute then ours. Others operate in different color ranges; one species might perceive the ultraviolet region while another is restricted to a small band of the spectrum. Some see alien worlds of faceted images or murky blurred movements. What follows are attempts to visualize Umvelts, or animals' perceptions of their worlds.
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| Bees have compound eyes that receive multiple images, which their brains then decode. Their vision extends far into the ultraviolet portion of the spectrum, revealing "hidden" patterns on flowers that give clues to the location of pollen. |
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The narrow visual pathway of a frog's eye renders it essentially a motion detector. This is important in both the jumping reflex and the frog's insect-catching ability. |
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| Some feel that the pigeon's remarkable homing instinct is related to its ability to see patterns of polarized light in the atmosphere.
| Each photoreceptor in a sea turtle's eye contains a droplet of red tinted oil. Perhaps these "rose colored glasses" assist in underwater navigation. | |
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