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Animal Senses
Each type of animal is equipped with its
own sensory receptors each animal
perceives its environment differently.
Animal Senses
Animal senses are more varied and
sharper than human senses.
Most sensory receptors are found on the
head of an animalin most cases, the
head is the first part of an animal to enter
a new environment
Mechanoreception
Response to movement.
This includes hearing, vibration, touch,
balance, etc.
Thermoreception
Response to heat!
Chemoreception
Response to chemical energy, including
smell and taste
Sensory Hairs
Found mostly on head and legs
Can detect movement in surrounding air
or water, and can detect certain
chemicals.
Animal Senses
Specific examples:
A homing pigeon senses changes in
altitude as minute as four millimeters.
Pigeons also see ultraviolet light and hear
extremely low-frequency sound.
Vertebrate Eyes
Iris: The colored diaphragm in the anterior
chamber of the eyeball which contracts and
expands to adjust for light intensity.
Pupil: The opening in the center of the iris
through which light passes.
Lens: The transparent, dual-convex body which
focuses light rays onto the retina. It is normally
capable of changing shape to allow the eye to
focus on both near and distant images.
Vertebrate Eye
Retina Found on the back of the eye.
Sensory cells contain light absorbing
pigment (a molecule that absorbs only
certain wavelengths of visible light and
reflects or transmits other wavelengths)
cones = color vision
rods = light vision
Vertebrate Eye
The optic nerve attaches to retina and
there are no photo-receptor cells at that
location creating a blind spot.
Adaptations, such as the eye, (a
characteristic that makes one individual
more fit than another) do not have to be
perfect.
Experiment with YOUR blind spot
Cats Eyes
A reflective layer behind the cat's retina
called the tapetum reflects incoming light
and bounces it back off the cones, making
more use of the existing light.
The tapetum makes a cat's eyes look like
shiny green orbs at night.
Other Senses
Nociceptors Sense pain
Thermoreceptors Detect changes in
temperature