Night hunter.Beware, insects: An African clawed frog can home in on prey even when its eyes are closed. These pond-dwelling frogs, Xenopus laevis Xenopus laevis a toad used in the test of pregnancy in women. Called also African clawed toad. (ZEE-no-pus LAY-vis), hunt after dark. But their nighttime vision is too poor to spot a tasty insect. They instead rely on 180 skin receptors to pinpoint prey, says Leo Leo, in astronomy Leo [Lat.,=the lion], northern constellation lying S of Ursa Major and on the ecliptic (apparent path of the sun through the heavens) between Cancer and Virgo; it is one of the constellations of the zodiac. van Hemmen, a biophysicist bi·o·phys·ics n. (used with a sing. verb) The science that deals with the application of physics to biological processes and phenomena. bi at the Technical University of Munich Munich University of Technology, or Technical University of Munich (TUM) (in German: Technische Universität München, TUM), is a major German university located in Munich (and the towns of Garching and Freising outside of Munich). in Germany. When an insect lands on a pond, it creates ripples in the water. The frog's receptors detect this wave motion and the hunter follows the ripples right to its prey. But van Hemmen discovered that young African clawed frogs aren't skilled yet at this method. So they learn hunting when there is still enough light to see--and feel--prey. As the frog practices hunting with both its eyes and wave-detecting receptors, van Hemmen believes its brain learns how to decode the ripple signals. By the time the frog is fully grown, it can find its way to its prey on the darkest night. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion