Reindeer and the quest for Scottish enlichenment.
Iperception
; 14(6): 20416695231218520, 2023.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38107029
ABSTRACT
In the hall of animal oddities, the reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) is the only mammal with a color-shifting tapetum lucidum and the only ruminant with a lichen-dominated diet. These puzzling traits coexist with yet another enigma--ocular media that transmit up to 60% of ultraviolet (UV) light, enough to excite the cones responsible for color vision. It is unclear why any day-active circum-Arctic mammal would benefit from UV visual sensitivity, but it could improve detection of UV-absorbing lichens against a background of UV-reflecting snows, especially during the extended twilight hours of winter. To explore this idea and advance our understanding of reindeer visual ecology, we recorded the reflectance spectra of several ground-growing (terricolous), shrubby (fruticose) lichens in the diets of reindeer living in Cairngorms National Park, Scotland.
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MEDLINE
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En
Ano de publicação:
2023
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Article