No Small Thing

Did you know that the creature with “the most complex vision systems known to science” is a shrimp?^* Really! Instead of combining three colors to see all the variety of the visible spectrum, as human eyes do, the mantis shrimp combines twelve colors, and its eye includes polarizing filters that work far more effectively than any filters that humans have so far been able to produce.

The mantis shrimp’s amazing vision combines twelve colors from the visible spectrum in contrast to three colors that the human eye combines. Photo © Johnandersonphoto | Dreamstime.com

Polarization may help the shrimp find a mate, communicate without attracting the attention of predators, or see more clearly to catch its own prey.

This amazing vision system has inspired researchers to find new ways to improve DVD players. Today’s manmade electronic devices are impressive, but how much more awe-inspiring is the handiwork of the Designer, who created the rainbow of colors and made so many types of eyes to see them, including the unique eye of the mantis shrimp.

^* http://www.livescience.com/technology/091025-mantis-shrimp-eyes.html