据台湾《醒报》报道,德国科学家利用高速摄影机观察跑动中的老鼠眼部运动,发现老鼠两颗眼睛可同时看不同方向事物,也就是说,当老鼠在跑动时,不仅可以侦测上方动静,还可以注意前方一举一动。
科学家认为,老鼠独特的眼睛移动方式,就是为了观察上方鸟类的动静,避免遭到攻击。
德国“马克斯普朗克生物模控学研究所”科学家将小型高速摄影机装在老鼠头上,观察老鼠眼睛移动,另一部摄影机则观察老鼠头部移动,藉此观察老鼠是如何观察身旁一切动静。事后科学家重建老鼠之前所看的景象发现,老鼠跟人类看东西方式截然不同,因为它们是将2个独立画面,一起传给大脑处理,而且不会混淆。
研究者寇尔表示,“人类利用眼睛观看前方事物,两眼通常同一时间定焦在同一物体上,但老鼠的两颗眼睛,却可以同时观看相反方向的移动物体,”而且人类2颗眼睛的对角角度,必须超过1度以上,才能看清物体,否则会产生双重影像,但是老鼠视线则不受限,其两眼距离水平面可以超过40度,垂直面可超过60度以上。
据报道,老鼠除了看事物的方式与人类不同,其嗅觉更是有特殊作用,因为根据美国凯斯西储大学研究发现,老鼠们彼此沟通是靠嗅觉来决定地位,一般而言,地位较高的老鼠,可以多闻对方,但若是较年轻的老鼠多闻几下,就会导致被其它老鼠攻击的命运。
报道说,本次研究结果已刊登在《自然》期刊。(生物谷Bioon.com)
生物谷推荐英文摘要:
Nature doi:10.1038/nature12153
Rats maintain an overhead binocular field at the expense of constant fusion
Damian J. Wallace,1, 3 David S. Greenberg,1, 3 Juergen Sawinski,1, 3 Stefanie Rulla,1 Giuseppe Notaro1, 2 & Jason N. D. Kerr1, 2
Fusing left and right eye images into a single view is dependent on precise ocular alignment, which relies on coordinated eye movements. During movements of the head this alignment is maintained by numerous reflexes. Although rodents share with other mammals the key components of eye movement control, the coordination of eye movements in freely moving rodents is unknown. Here we show that movements of the two eyes in freely moving rats differ fundamentally from the precisely controlled eye movements used by other mammals to maintain continuous binocular fusion. The observed eye movements serve to keep the visual fields of the two eyes continuously overlapping above the animal during free movement, but not continuously aligned. Overhead visual stimuli presented to rats freely exploring an open arena evoke an immediate shelter-seeking behaviour, but are ineffective when presented beside the arena. We suggest that continuously overlapping visual fields overhead would be of evolutionary benefit for predator detection by minimizing blind spots.