We Are All Pit Vipers

Alternate Titles: Solving Slanted Pupils and The Seventh Sense

Last week we argued that the eyes produced radiation under some conditions. The question becomes, if this is true, what is the purpose of this sense in the animal kingdom? 

 

 

Why do some animals have slit pupils?

The predator/prey model doesn’t explain all cases. It basically says that the predators have the slit [elliptical pupils] and the prey have round pupils. This works for most cases, but not all. Most cats have them, but not big cats like lions or tigers. Some foxes have slanted pupils as well.

So it seems like small animals, who eat meat, need extra depth perception. The theory is that the slits in their eyes give them an added sense of precision for their attacks.

The two slits cross at the point of focus, and that point would be direct back in to the nasal cavity, or whatever sensory organ receives the eye-transmitted signal. The smaller the slit, the more precise the attack.

Pit vipers are the tell all. I think it’s important to know that the pit is a sensory organ, but we don’t know exactly how it works. All I’m saying is that I agree that the pit is the sensor, but a sensor needs a probe. And in these cases, the probe comes from the eye slit. With the very precise infrared rays, the pit information is useful. For example, knowing that there is a creature nearby is useful, but knowing exactly where it is in relation to your eye and pit is crucial to attack. I’d argue that the nose or nasal cavity is a similar pit.

What about cats? 

Some breeds have slanted pupils. They have this sense too. Their vision is terrible, and yet they can take down birds, mid-flight, bugs, and all sorts of other little creatures. These types of attacks require something more than what cats possess. But, if you can assume for a moment that the eyes emit radiation, and now that there is some sort of pit on the face of the cat. The cat becomes an infrared warrior. More precise, and adapted for nighttime attacks.

Ocean-bottom sharks have oblique slant pupils. Because they attack upwards. Or so they can attack upwards, depending on the way you look at things. 

Sidebar solution: What do rays eat? Things that live just under the ocean floor. Why does that matter? Because I just read on Wikipedia that they have an “electric organ” that science did not know the purpose of. So here you go: The tail hangs down just slightly below the body of the animal so that the electrical pulses are focused on the wide body of the animal. So whatever pulses it’s sending with its tail, it’s receiving with its body.

What about the cuttlefish? 

This is the strangest eye in the animal kingdom [and probably the strangest creature]. The “w” as it is commonly referred to essentially is two vertical slits connected by a horizontal slit. Furthermore, the curve of the vertical slits is similar to the curve of the middle hump. If we assume that the vertical slits emit infrared radiation, the focal point of these probes would be the center hump of the horizontal slit. It even has the look of an outline of a snake, because it handles the sending and receiving of these infrared rays.

Source:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuttlefish
2. https://www.livescience.com/51787-why-cats-have-vertical-pupils.html
3. https://oceana.org/blog/5-incredible-ways-shark-and-ray-eyes-create-super-sensitive-vision
4. https://www.petmd.com/cat/slideshows/ultimate-guide-cat-visionectric_ray
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroreception#Electrocommunication
6. https://www.columbiatribune.com/c254f44a-a76e-11e2-87fb-10604b9f6eda.html
7. https://www.quora.com/Why-do-cats%E2%80%99-eyes-get-big-before-they-attack-a-person
8. http://jeb.biologists.org/content/209/1/18
9. http://www.koryoswrites.com/nonfiction/the-functions-of-different-pupil-shapes/
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_vision
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skate_(fish)#Diet_/_Feeding
12. http://www.animalplanet.com/pets/other-pets/snake-anatomy/
13. https://clinicalgate.com/venomous-snakebites-in-north-america/
14. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0042698913000539
15. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/08/07/430149677/eye-shapes-of-the-animal-world-hint-at-differences-in-our-lifestyles
16. https://sharkuniversity.org/2017/02/07/pupils/