Brillaint breakdown of Arctic adaptation. The tapetum lucidum mechanism is wild: something as simple as sustained pupil dilation triggering structural changes at the fiber level. I'd always heard about night vision in animals but never knew the seasonal dimmer switch was an actual thing. Kind of makes me rethink how much phenotypic plasticity is baked into survival at those latitudes.
Brillaint breakdown of Arctic adaptation. The tapetum lucidum mechanism is wild: something as simple as sustained pupil dilation triggering structural changes at the fiber level. I'd always heard about night vision in animals but never knew the seasonal dimmer switch was an actual thing. Kind of makes me rethink how much phenotypic plasticity is baked into survival at those latitudes.
The adaptability of animals in general is so fascinating, especially in such harsh conditions. Thank you for reading and commenting!