Reindeer see a weird and wonderful world of ultraviolet light

Researchers have discovered that the ultraviolet (UV) light that causes the temporary but painful condition of snow blindness in humans is life-saving for reindeer in the arctic.

A BBSRC-funded team at UCL has published a paper today (26 May) in the Journal of Experimental Biology that shows that this remarkable visual ability is part of the reindeer's unique adaptation to the extreme arctic environment where they live. It allows them to take in live-saving information in conditions where normal mammalian vision would make them vulnerable to starvation, predators and territorial conflict. It also raises the question of how reindeer protect their eyes from being damaged by UV, which is thought to be harmful to human vision.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• light
• bbsrc
• biology
• biotechnology
• biological sciences
• reindeer
• UCL
• Glen Jeffery
• vision
• UV
• snow blindness
• sight
• cornea
• retina
• norway
• artic
• extreme environment
• dark
• blue light
• rayleigh scattering

[ArcticLiveTV]

Yet another reason why we love Caribou!

[lukaspodolski85]

Very interesting indeed

[Aubury]

Well done Prof Jeffery team

[timotht]

Interesting stuff.