Mkman
10/06/2004, 09:33 AM
Hey guys, I was browsing through the September 1996 issue of National Geographic, and found a small article about mantis shrimp by Dr. Roy! Here is a transcript below:
Eyes and Claws of a Killer Shrimp
Undersea Weapons Systems, mantis shrimps include this five inch long speices off Papua New Guinea. Two specialized claows, folided like knife blades, snape out in milliseconds to spear or smash fish, crabs, or rival mantis shrimps. "I had a letter from a South African surgeon who picked one up while diving. His finger was so badly mangled it had to be amputated," says biologist Roy Caldwell of the University of California at Berkeley.
Caldwell and his colleagues are now focusing on the mantis shrimp's amazing eyes- "the most complext of any organism I know, "Caldwell marvels. Its eyes have what he terms "trinocular vision," with visual receptors in separate upper and lower sections, as well as in a central band, that focus on the same point. The shrimp sees in color and can detect polarized light. Each eye can scan independently and rotate 180 degrees to home in on prey, which seldom stand a chance.
Dr. Roy, if you are reading this, can you tell us the species of mantis that mangled this persons finger and do you have pics???
Mkman
Eyes and Claws of a Killer Shrimp
Undersea Weapons Systems, mantis shrimps include this five inch long speices off Papua New Guinea. Two specialized claows, folided like knife blades, snape out in milliseconds to spear or smash fish, crabs, or rival mantis shrimps. "I had a letter from a South African surgeon who picked one up while diving. His finger was so badly mangled it had to be amputated," says biologist Roy Caldwell of the University of California at Berkeley.
Caldwell and his colleagues are now focusing on the mantis shrimp's amazing eyes- "the most complext of any organism I know, "Caldwell marvels. Its eyes have what he terms "trinocular vision," with visual receptors in separate upper and lower sections, as well as in a central band, that focus on the same point. The shrimp sees in color and can detect polarized light. Each eye can scan independently and rotate 180 degrees to home in on prey, which seldom stand a chance.
Dr. Roy, if you are reading this, can you tell us the species of mantis that mangled this persons finger and do you have pics???
Mkman