Mantis shrimp can see a kind of red light most animals cannot
Earth 2.0From: Phys.org · rewritten for kids by Osmo
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People's eyes use 3 special colour detectors, called pigments. The mantis shrimp has about 30. For the first time, scientists in Belgium and Germany studied these pigments one by one. They found that some of them can detect a kind of red light that very few animals can see. The discovery could help scientists who use light to control cells.
Big word
pigment: A substance that catches certain colours of light. Your eyes use pigments to see colour.
Quiz time: circle the right answer
1. About how many visual pigments does a mantis shrimp have?A3BAbout 30CAbout 300
2. How many colour pigments do human eyes have?A3B30C300
3. Where does the mantis shrimp live?AIn the seaBIn the desertCIn the clouds
Your turn
Draw a mantis shrimp using as many colours as you can. Which colours do you think it sees that you can't?
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