Nov 06 2013
When lights shine on an animal’s eyes at night, what color is reflected back at you?
For cats it’s green. For possums it’s red. For arctic reindeer it depends on the time of year!
The tapetum lucidum in reindeer’s eyes changes color to cope with the bright light of summer and low light of winter. In summer their eyes reflect gold, in winter they look blue.
This cool effect was discovered by a team from University College London and University of Tromsø, Norway thanks to funding from BBSRC (Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council).
Watch the video above and read more about the study here at Phys.org.
(video from BBSRC via phys.org)
p.s. Reindeer have two other amazing traits: (1) They can see ultraviolet light and (2) They have no circadian rhythm.