Is it true that the moles are completely blind?

It is believed that moles living underground in almost complete darkness are blind or even have no eyes at all. We decided to check if this is true.

The opinion that the moles are blind is so common that there is even phraseology "Blind like a mole". Questions about whether these animals are true and why, you can find in Blogs, services questions And answers, on cognitive Portals for children, sites About animals. Exists legendthat God deprived a mole of vision for spoiling the plantations in the garden of Eden. 

Despite the widespread opinion, the moles have eyes, although to notice them Not easy - They are very small, closed with wool, and sometimes even skin. The vision of the moles is really enough limited, and animals are already born with such ones, and do not lose their eyesight because of life in the dark. This is explained by genetic features: the lens in moles is not formed to the end and is a destroyed epithelium and an accumulation of immature cells.

Nevertheless, scientists found outthat the organs of the moles are still functioning. Researchers from the University of Aberdeen, who studied moles in the Spanish Granade for 25 years, noted: they expected that the eyes of the moles in the process of evolution were atrophied, since the organs of vision do not need animals living in the dark. But it turned out that the mole has completely developed a retina, there are all types of cells necessary to distinguish between light and shadow, and the mechanisms of transmitting visual information to the brain work. Their eyes consisted From cells that perceive light (the so -called sticks and cones). This structure is typical of daytime mammals.

Indeed, despite the fact that the vision of the moles is quite primitive, they perfectly capture the light and shadow and can register the movements of objects. They have reaction photo recovery (behavioral answer on the irritant - in this case light). That is, moles are really able to see.

Moles eyes with their ability to capture light changes Serving Animals as a biological watch. It is thanks to this that mole is distinguished day and night, and can also track the change of seasons. The period of reproduction of moles is from February to April, and they will learn about its beginning just because of the change in the duration of the daylight hours.

Scientists Conduct The parallel with fish living in caves at a great depths - their organs of vision were really completely degraded as unnecessary. In particular, the gene is lost in such fish PAX6, responsible for the correct formation of the eyes in the infancy. However, this gene operates in moles, but at some point, due to the mutation, it simply stops the formation of the eye. As a result, a “broken”, underdeveloped eye is formed, which is nevertheless able to distinguish light from darkness.

In addition, moles Use Eyes to determine magnetic fields. So, scientists conducted experimentSurgically removing the eyes of experimental mole. In everyday life - during feeding, communication with relatives, movement - they behaved just like those moles that had eyes, because their eyesight are used little for this. However, experimental animals began to dig in random places, while the usually under study preferred the southeastern direction. Scientists associated this with the fact that moles determine the aspects of the world precisely with the eyes. So far, scientists have not established exactly how this mechanism works, but, of course, moles do not see them in the literal sense of the word.

Moles at the same time successfully compensate for poor vision with the development of other senses. They have incredibly sharp Stereo -foom nuh - Each nostril can capture and process information regardless of the other. Touch - Another tool for orientation in the space and knowledge of the world, which is developed in moles much better than in many other mammals. Besides It turned outthat they remember and begin to freely navigate in maze much faster than field mice with sharp vision.

Thus, moles are really little relying on vision in everyday life, using mainly smell and touch. They have eyes, and although they see very badly, they cannot be called completely blind. These animals have all the mechanisms necessary for the perception and transmission of visual information to the brain, so they distinguish between light and shadow, capture objects of objects and monitor the shift of the seasons on the light day, which is associated with a change in their behavior.

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What do our verdicts mean?

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