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Vision in Turtles

  • Chapter
The Visual System in Vertebrates

Part of the book series: Handbook of Sensory Physiology ((1536,volume 7 / 5))

Abstract

Perhaps more than in any other class, vision evolved to its greatest complexity in reptiles (Walls, 1942). Apart from the birds, to which reptiles form a natural connection, vision and its attendant structures in other animals are more constrained. Fishes and amphibians, for example, animals restricted largely or completely to aquatic environments, have difficulty in seeing for any great distance. Water is a poor medium for light transmission: It is easily set in motion by wave action and its transparency is complicated by turbidity. Because of these factors, the virtuous properties of light are very much degraded or practically non-existent. In many animals of these classes, visual structure is less elaborated. Some mammals, too, display a debilitation of visual structure and function that is especially noteworthy in view of their other biological advantages. Many mammals are nocturnal, or they emphasize other sensory attributes. Only in primates, perhaps in squirrels too with their cone-rich retinas, does vision predominate to the same extent as in reptiles and birds.

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  1. Newark, Delaware, USA

    A.M. Granda & C.A. Dvorak

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  1. A.M. Granda
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  1. Department of Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, 90024

    Frederick Crescitelli

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Granda, A., Dvorak, C. (1977). Vision in Turtles. In: Crescitelli, F. (eds) The Visual System in Vertebrates. Handbook of Sensory Physiology, vol 7 / 5. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-66468-7_8

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