Ciekawostka: Chameleons can move their eyes in two directions at the same time

Evidence: 53 • authority: 80

How Do Flap-Necked Chameleons Move Their Flaps?

Evidence: 53 • authority: 92

A new twist in the evolution of chameleons uncovers an extremely specialized optic nerve morphology.. Chameleons are unique among lizards for their exceptional suite of anatomical modifications which has allowed them to adapt to and diversify in arboreal environments. Specializations shared by members of this lineage include a trunk with a reduced number of presacral vertebrae, a body that can be mediolaterally compressed or expanded, reduced flexibility in the trunk and neck, grasping hands and feet, a prehensile and non-autotomizing tail, highly developed and independently movable eyes, and a ballistic tongue. Here we use contrast enhanced computed tomography to describe the arrangement o…

Evidence: 53 • authority: 72

The chameleon is among the most highly visually-oriented lizards, using this sense in prey capture, mating behavior, and predator avoidance. Unique features of chameleon vision include a negative lens, a positive cornea, and monocular focusing. The development of the chameleon visual system could have evolved to aid in prey capture and/or in predator avoidance. The angle, or amplitude, of eye movement in chameleons is very large for a vertebrate and the eyes move independently of each other. This allows a chameleon to watch an approaching object while simultaneously scanning the rest of its environment. Chameleon eyes protrude laterally from the head, giving the lizard panoramic sight. An e…

Evidence: 53 • authority: 72

Chameleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 200 species described as of June 2015. The members of this family are best known for their distinct range of colours, being capable of colour-shifting camouflage. The large number of species in the family exhibit considerable variability in their capacity to change colour. For some, it is more of a shift of brightness (shades of brown); for others, a plethora of colour-combinations (reds, yellows, greens, blues) can be seen. Chameleons are also distinguished by their zygodactylous feet, their prehensile tail, their laterally compressed bodies, their head casques, their projectile tong…

Evidence: 53 • authority: 80

Flies can move their rigid, omnidirectional eyes — a little

Evidence: 53 • authority: 92

Hummingbirds use compensatory eye movements to stabilize both rotational and translational visual motion.. To maintain stable vision, behaving animals make compensatory eye movements in response to image slip, a reflex known as the optokinetic response (OKR). Although OKR has been studied in several avian species, eye movements during flight are expected to be minimal. This is because vertebrates with laterally placed eyes typically show weak OKR to nasal-to-temporal motion (NT), which simulates typical forward locomotion, compared with temporal-to-nasal motion (TN), which simulates atypical backward locomotion. This OKR asymmetry is also reflected in the pretectum, wherein neurons sensitiv…

Evidence: — • authority: 35