Each animal has the secret to seeing in the dark differently

To the human eye, darkness is just a gloomy, bleak curtain. However, for the nocturnal animals are the colorful "paradise". So, what makes nightlife different from us?

The nocturnal species see in the dark because their eyes can adapt to low-light conditions. Every creature visible through the retina has cells that sense light particles, called photons. When light-sensitive cells recognize photons, they send signals to other cells in the retina and brain. The brain analyzes the signals and converts them into images the eye is seeing.

The stronger the light, the more photons converge at the retina. In the dark, the amount of photons transmitted to the human retina will be affected. That is, the amount of information received by the light-sensitive cells, as well as the image quality, will vary at different times. At night, it is difficult for the eyes of day-eating animals to recognize light. But for nocturnal creatures, that's adaptation.

Tarsier dwarf monkey

The large eyes of Tarsier monkeys help them receive as much light as possible.

One of these adaptations is resizing. For example, the Tarsier dwarf monkey, with an eye size as close as the brain, is the largest eye-sighting of all mammals. The big eyes of Tarsier monkeys do not make them look cuter but let the light get as much as possible. The bigger the eyes, the bigger the pupils and the wider the lens will be, helping the receptor cells to receive more light.

Toad's eyes

Toad's eyes are completely different. They can create images when only one photon passes through each sensory cell for a second. Toads do that because their cells respond 25 times slower than light-sensitive cells. With a toad's photon reception can be up to 4 seconds, this makes the toad extremely slow response because they only recognize new images after 4 seconds. Fortunately, their prey is also naive creatures.

Mphs Sphingidae

Next is the Sphingidae moth, which can find its favorite flower based on the color of the night thanks to a special method of ignoring the small details when observing. Information from light-sensitive cells is synthesized in the brain, so the number of photons that are sensed is higher than they are absorbed individually at each receptor. However, this will result in loss of detail, but since the butterfly is able to balance information needs with image loss, it is still successful in finding flowers.

Whether the eyes are sluggish, large, bright, or faint is the result of biological adaptations that help nocturnal species gain exceptional visual ability. Imagine when we observe the fascinating night world with their eyes, there will be many interesting things.

Cat's eye

Cat eyes receive good light thanks to the reflective cell layer located behind the retina.

While the huge Tarsier monkeys' eyes help them see during the night, cats possess bright eyes like lights. Cat eyes receive good light thanks to the reflective cell layer located behind the retina. This membrane is made up of mirror-like cells with crystals that help reflect the light that has passed, once again, back into the retina and away from the eye. In addition to producing a bizarre light, this also helps the sensory cells receive light a second time. In fact, car lights are designed based on this eye structure.