Tuesday, 22 April 2014

Close Up Of A Llama Eye

 The strange "ruffles" are called 'iridic granules' (corpora nigra) and they are used to to shade the eye from bright sunlight. In bright light these iridic granules can actually interlock to completely cover the centre of the pupil. This leaves just two holes open on either end of the pupil, reducing the amount of light that can enter the eye.
These structures are also found in horses, cattle and sheep.

2 comments:

  1. That is truly weird & amazing. Without the text, I would've guessed it was a deep-sea creature!

    - a big fan of this site from the U.S. - Liz

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    Replies
    1. Hi Liz, it does look Geographical :) Thanks for your visits x

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