Scientists have found that reindeer’s eyes can change color with seasonal changes. The back of their eyeballs are gold in the summer but change to blue in the winder to help the animals catch more light during the dark months.
Neuroscientist Glen Jeffery studied a collection of eyes of reindeer killed at different times of the year. “I opened the eyes up on my lab bench and almost fell off my chair,” he said. “The differences were so dramatic, and I knew no one had ever seen anything like that before. However, it has taken us 12 years to slowly find out what is going on and why.”
Now, the scientists want to find out if this change also influences the way reindeer see ultraviolet light. “We have some evidence that the blue reflection in winter amplifies ultraviolet light, while in summer it suppresses it,” said Jeffery.
